E Pluribus Unum
by Paperfist 5
Summary: One fateful day, an attack on a small cottage changes the future forever. Two brothers, one to be remembered in history, the other to be wrapped in hate and betrayal. One will rise to the greatest heights. Another will live in shame and exile forever. And it all began on October 31st, 1981. Rated for Language.
1. Chapter 1

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 1

By: Paperfist

_ On a particular dark Halloween a gaunt figure strode through Godric's Hallow towards a small house at the edge of the town. To most, the house wasn't even there at all; just another tiny plot of land that was never bought. Oh, but _he _knew better than that. The violet eyes narrowed as he approached his destination. A pale hand rose from the folds of a dark cloak, and with a single flick the gate that led to the house was blown apart. Another wave of his wand caused the door to collapse on itself, hinges and all._

_ As he stepped through the wreckage he noticed that no one was home. Stupid Potters, he thought to himself. He frowned, and sighed with relief when he cast a Homonus Revelio charm and found two small entities up the stairs. No parents? Well that would make his job all the easier. He walked up the steps with a usually unfelt joy in his heart. Today, he would rid himself of his prophesied enemy. But, he remembered, his agent Severus Snape had not heard the second part of the prophecy. He made a mental note to torture him after he had completed this historic mission._

_Voldemort strode briskly across the hallway, smiling sadistically as he thought of the fun he would have with those two Potters before they died. It was a pity that he had to kill them, for if he recruited the two, he could strike a terrible blow to the Light side._

_ He turned the corner towards the bedroom where he had detected the two brothers. He would kill them, both of them. Maybe even have some fun with them first. He pointed his wand towards the door. A second later the door blew off its hinges and into the room. The Dark Lord slowly walked through the carnage and looked in. There, on a crib, a small baby. Quickly searching through the boy's mind, he scanned the baby's magical abilities. A wizard only with the capabilities of an average wizard? Preposterous! He raised his wand anyways. Avada Kedav-_

_ Before he could finish the curse, a force of unimaginable power rammed straight into his side, throwing him into a wall. Voldemort growled as he heard a rib crack. He whipped around, cursing, expecting the enraged face of a Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, but found himself look into the enraged face of a…three year old?_

_Then the Dark Lord remembered that there was another child in the room. He forced himself into the mind of the small child and glimpsed the raw pulsating core before he was thrown out of the child's mind quite forcibly. The Dark Lord staggered, face contorted in pain. He forced himself to look at the child._

_The child glared with an unnatural hatred. "NO!"_

_Voldemort threw up a powerful shield just as an enormous wave of flame erupted from the boy's hand and directly at the Dark Lord. The young Potter never relented, the blue flames relentlessly struggling to push back Voldemort's shield of black energy._

_Finally, the boy stopped. Voldemort gasped for breath as he let the shield go down. **This **must be the Chosen One. He crushed the thought from his mind as a beam of ice, as sharp as a needle and broad as a spear, headed straight towards him at an unimaginable speed. The Dark Lord destroyed the projectile with a blast of black fire. He snarled in his rage and screeched, "Crucio!" _

_A sickly, yellow beam of light shot out from Voldemort's wand and flew straight and true...to where the boy had been a second before._

_Not in the least discouraged that all his attacks had been neutralized, the Potter sent a blast of terrible, blue lightning, the tendrils of electricity getting ever the more closer._

_Voldemort conjured a black shield, the barrier barely holding back the mass of lightning. Voldemort knew that he could not hold out for much longer. The young boy had a look of desperation on his face, of a willingness to die for his family. Voldemort snarled. He hoped that the boy hadn't cast Blood Magic on the other, younger, child._

_Te momentary distraction was enough for the lightning to pierce his defenses. He screamed as an unbearable feeling, worse than the Cruciatus Curse, flooded his body, the energy burning, burning his insides. He felt the branches of electricity tortuously moving up and down, immobilizing each limb one at a time._

_The flow of energy stopped, and Voldemort fell to the ground, gasping. Smoke rose from his robes and into the air, filling the room. The Dark Lord looked up at the boy, who calmly looked down, expression pensive, and raised his hand once more. Desperately, the Dark Lord summoned his wand and shouted the his signature curse. _

_ "AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

_ The Dark Lord smirked as he saw the green incandescent beam spat from his wand sped towards the boy. He mentally probed the boy's mind with his own, this time his own eyes widening when the brats soul did not depart screaming into the void. The last thing he saw was a sickly green light of the Killing Curse rebounding off a golden shield and heading straight back towards him. He swore he saw a small smile on the boy's face as he departed, fleeing the scene as fast as he could._

_ Nobody noticed that in the explosion that followed, an extremely magically enhanced piece of glass had fallen on the toddler's forehead leaving a bloody scar. _

_The minutes slowly ticked by, and a few minutes later, 3 cracks were heard and 3 people, two males and a woman appeared in existence. All three raced towards the ruined house without any disruption. When Lily Potter burst into the room she found her eldest son lying on the floor. She quickly checked and found a pulse._

"_Lily! Look at this!"_

_The burnt husk of Voldemort lay in front of their youngest son's crib. Inside the crib, Adam Potter lay, crying and bawling. A bloody cut on his forehead clearly visible._

_Dumbledore entered the room and checked the condition of the eldest Potter brother once more. His mentally shrieked when he entered the boy's mind. Hundreds of memories flowed through his mind, sifting so fast that Dumbledore simply could not find the one memory of the previous hours. He sighed and exited Harry's mind. He walked over to Voldemort's corpse and made sure it was for sure dead. He then looked at Adam. His forehead was bleeding, and it was a powerful magical wound at that as well. _

_Albus spoke slowly, "By the looks of the evidence, it looks as if Adam is the Boy-who-Lived and will one day be the one to end Voldemort and what he stands for."_

_The Potter's jumped and hugged each other in glee. They immediately went out to tell their friends the good news. "However," Albus said, "That does not necessarily mean that he _is _the Boy-who-Lived!"_

_But his words fell on deaf ears. Albus sighed and turned away. He looked forlornly at the sleeping three-year old and finally pointed his wand at the motionless form and said "Ennervate."_

_The boy immediately shot up, and upon seeing Albus and the corpse of Lord Voldemort he spoke quietly, "He's dead right?"_

_The sudden use of a sentence not meant until one was a whole year older, not to mention the calmness of the boy shocked him._

"_Of…Of course Harry. Yes. He is dead, by the hand of your brother I think. You should be proud my boy. You now have a brother that must take the up the mantle of defeating Lord Voldemort one day, and you should fight proudly beside him when that day comes. But, anyhow, he is dead, Harry."_

_Harry's facial expression twitched painfully. "I am glad to hear so."_

"_I must get going Harry. I apologize for the inconvenience. The Minister must know of this right away. You are very lucky that you survived Harry. I am glad that the Potters did not need to mourn the loss of one of their own kin."_

_Another sudden crack resounded, and disheveled man with greasy shoulder length hair ran immediately into the house. He sprinted into the bedroom. _

"_Albus!" the man huffed._

"_Yes Severus?"_

"_The Mark…It's fading!"_

_That's when he noticed the corpse of the Dark Lord lying on the ground._

"_Yes. Adam Potter likely deflected the Killing Curse and should be the one who will destroy him forever. Quick, Severus, convene the Order of the Phoenix and tell them the good news. Now, I really must be going. The Minister will not be expecting this most excellent news."_

_The Potions Master turned away from the room and walked stiffly outside. A sharp crack was heard soon after._

_The young Potter turned to the corpse of Lord Voldemort, spat on it, and turned away, ready to get some sleep._

* * *

_8 years later…_

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Harry Potter groaned as his alarm went off at 4:30 A.M. He slammed his hand on the snooze button and rolled out of bed. He was halfway to the bathroom when he remembered what day it was. He grinned happily. It was July 31st, 1991, his birthday!

_And_, he thought to himself, _his idiotic younger brother_. His day brightened up again when he remembered that the event he had been waiting for all his life had come.

Hogwarts!

He grinned happily as he sauntered into the empty kitchen, snapping his fingers casually and calling out "Dotty!"

Almost immediately, a small house-elf popped in and asked in a high squeaky voice, "What does Master Potter need?"

Harry replied, "I just want a small breakfast please, that's all. Thank you."

"Oh great Master Harry Potter is so kind, so benevol-"

"Just go Dotty."

"But Master is so-"

"JUST GO!"

A small pop and less than 3 minutes later a bowl of cereal, an English muffin, and some tea appeared on the table. Harry smiled thankfully and began to dig in. A few minutes later, his breakfast was interrupted by an owl flying through the opened window and landing on his table in an undignified heap. Harry wrinkled his nose and opened the letter attached to its offered claw. Smiling at the Hogwarts seal stamped on the envelope, he broke the seal and pulled out the following letter:

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September (or when you happen to register). We await your owl by no Later then 31st of July._

_Yours Sincerely_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Harry snorted in amusement. The deadline was on his birthday! It was lucky that his godfather had such a fast owl. Otherwise, he might not be registered at all. Harry shuddered. That would have been most terrible. He pulled out the next sheet:

_**HOWGARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_**Uniform**  
First year students will require:_

_Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags_

_**Set Books**  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk_

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

_Other Equipment_

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

_Students may also bring an owl, cat or toad_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

He frowned when he saw the No Broomsticks for first years. Ah well, there were rules and rules had to be followed. Soon, another owl came flying in, this time with a Daily Prophet attached to its claws. Tossing the owl 5 nuts, he untied the newspaper and frowned when he saw the headline.

_The Wizarding World Celebrates the Birthday of the Boy Who Lived_

_By Rita Skeeter_

_ Today, the Wizarding World celebrates the 8th birthday of Adam Potter, the young infant that as a child reflected the Killing Curse shot from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and vanquished You-Know-Who himself. __According to Headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore, Adam will try to live the most normal life that a young wizard like him before taking his true place in the Wizarding World. However, he will be also starting his training in September, taking lessons from Dumbledore himself._ Yesterday, in an exclusive interview with the Boy Who Lived himself, the vanquisher of one of the greatest Dark Lords himself, talked about Hogwarts, getting his own wand, his bully of a brother his birthday, and his hard life training to fight against Voldemort if he rises again.

_According to Headmaster of Hogwarts Dumbledore, Adam will try to live the most normal life that a young wizard like him before taking his true place in the Wizarding World. However, he will be also starting his training _

_Rita Skeeter (RS): How do you feel Hogwarts? Any thoughts on the teachers, the curriculum, the extracurricular activities?_

_Adam Potter (AP): I think that Hogwarts will be an easy school for me. I am a very powerful wizard, as defeating You-Know-Who shows. The teachers are decent, like Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick. However, I think Ponoma Sprout needs to be replaced, she is just terrible. And Professor Grubby-Plank is stupid and should be fired immediately, along with that fatso gamekeeper Hagrid. The dumbass janitor Filch should also be fired with no benefits. I think the best teachers are Professor Vector and Professor Sinistra. They are really cool, and their youth makes you relate to the. Their hair is so shiny and soft, and they are extraordinarily beautiful. Their ass-_

_RS: Uh…Have you gotten your own wand yet?_

_AP: Of course I have! I'm the Boy Who Lived! Of course I got a wand already. Mine is holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches. It is so powerful. It's as powerful as…You-Know-Who's wand. It's awesome and I am already training with it! I can already do so many spells!_

_RS: Don't you have a brother?_

_AP: Oh, him! He is such a bully! He always bosses me around and pretends he's all cool and stuff. But everyone knows better, after all, I am the Chosen One! I'll show him! _

_RS: Your birthday is tomorrow right?_

_AP: It's gonna be awesome! I'm going to play Quidditch with all my friends and go to the magical zoo and I'm getting at least 43 presents! But of course my stingy fatass brother won't even get me a present. He is sooooo stupid._

_RS: Are you afraid that You-Know-Who might come back?_

_AP: You kidding me? I've been training since Day 1. I could whip his ass any day. I have worked very hard to attain my level of skill. I am a prodigy for my age Everyone says that.. Heck, I can do first year spells already! _

_For more on Adam Potter, go to page A-5. For a minute-by-minute telling of the attack on Godric's Hollow, go to page A-18._

Harry's eyes turned a dark yellow at seeing the interview. He raised his hand and the paper was incinerated in a blast of blue flames. He would show them all who was to be feared here. He would show them all.

* * *

Harry passed by his parents who were busy coddling Adam, his heart turning to stone has they ignored him. Without a good-bye, he grabbed some Floo powder and shouted, "Grimmauld Place!"

He shook his head as the familiar faces of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black materialized. Sirius immediately noticed something was not all right with Harry.

"What's wrong pup?"

Harry spoke stiffly, "Mom and Dad didn't even acknowledge it was my birthday. Nor did they care about my Hogwarts letter."

Remus and Sirius exchanged glances. "That's ok pup," they both said. "We'll go with you!"

Harry smiled, a genuine smile, and said softly, "Thanks."

With that, the three of them stepped into the fireplace with a pinch of Floo powder and shouted, "The Leaky Cauldron!"

A blur of fireplaces dizzied Harry for a moment, but he recovered and saw the familiar gloom of the Leaky Cauldron appear. Remus and Sirius shook the dust and soot off of them and strode down and said hi to Tom. Then, they led Harry into the back, where he saw nothing but a gigantic brick wall.

Harry frowned. How did they get past this? He glared at Sirius who was smirking at Harry and looked thoughtfully at the brick wall. He noticed that a few of the blocks had many slight scratches and were more worn than the others. He walked over to Remus, stole his wand, and tapped each of the worn bricks once. Suddenly, the wall disappeared and a whole new world materialized.

Diagon Alley was even more busy than usual. Book shops, wand vendors, broom stores, weapons stores, jewelry shops, things from cleaning solvent to prank materials. It awed even Harry, who was extremely hard to impress. He turned to Sirius. "Where am I going to get money?"

Sirius winked at Remus and pulled something from the small pouch around his neck. Sirius grunted and managed to heave out a huge money bag the nearly half the size of Harry. "Here's your birthday gift Harry."

Neither Sirius nor Remus had ever been hugged that tightly before.

* * *

4 hours later and 1230 galleons poorer, Harry finally entered the shop that excited him the most. Ollivander's Wand Shop. Sirius was out in a strip club, something that disgusted both Harry and Remus.

Remus and Harry opened the rickety wooden door. Inside, the smell of the old and mysterious could be detected. Boxes upon boxes upon boxes of wands were stacked in the room. A soft old voice greeted them. "Ah…Mr. Potter. I was wondering when you would show up. Your mother, it seems as if she came in yesterday, wand swishy, willow, 8 and a 1/2 inches and unicorn tail, excellent for charms. Your father, on the other hand, was the cheeky one, with holly, 10 and a 1/2 inches, dragon heartstring, excellent for Transfiguration."

Harry clenched his fists at the mention of his parents, but didn't say a thing.

"Which is your wand arm?"

"I am right-handed." Mr. Ollivander flicked his wand and a tape measure rolled out, taking pointless measurements.

"Try this one, pine and phoenix feather, good for charms."

As soon as he waved it, a huge amount of seawater rushed out, drenching both Mr. Ollivander and Remus.

"Definitely not that one. Try this, elm and dragon-heartstring from a vicious Hungarian Horntail, excellent for Battle Magic."

Harry waved the wand again and this time a sonic wave flew out from the wand knocking both Ollivander and Remus of their feet and causing several rows of wands to buckle.

"Not that one either, try this acacia wood and unicorn tail from a feisty young male, great for defensive magic."

Wand after wand after wand was tried, each without success.

45 minutes, hundreds of wands and a heavily damaged shop later, Ollivander finally looked up and said, "Tricky customer eh? For that reason, though mad that idea may be, I will let you try _this_ wand."

Mr. Ollivander walked to the back of the store and came out with a black lacquer box. "Now, Mr. Potter, please try this wand."

The wand in question was a dark brown, curved yet shaped beautifully like a unicorn's tail. The worn grip had several runes on it, and on the hilt of the wand, a small white gem was inlaid into the back. The tip of the wand was burnt slightly, and the handle of the wand was darker than the rest. One could literally feel the magic flowing off of the wand itself, as its power was readily apparent to those well tuned to the flow of magic. In short terms, Harry thought it looked cool and deadly.

With reverence, Harry took the wand and placed in his hands. At first nothing happened. Just as Mr. Ollivander was going to say it was a pity that he had no wand for Mr. Potter, a beam of swirling magic burst from the wand and flowed through the shop, repairing the damage done by the previous wands. Boxes reconfigured and stacked themselves neatly. Wands shattered or snapped from the various explosions magically resealed themselves. Broken glass and wood reformed perfectly, leaving the shop in an even better state than it was before Harry came.

Mr. Ollivander smiled uneasily, and spoke to Harry. "Congratulations, for you have chosen a wand many would consider a great blessing yet a wand that just as many would consider a curse. For you have chosen the Elder Wand."

Remus gave a start. "What?"

"Mr. Potter has chosen the Elder Wand itself. That wand you hold in your hand has a long history, one that tells tales of great tragedy and great success, which is why I must tell you of its origins. . ." he trailed off ominously, making sure he had both their attentions. When he saw that he had both their undivided attention (Harry's was flicking between his wand and Ollivander), he continued on with the tale.

"There is a wand of legends that has had many names in the past, but one name that would be the most proper would be the "Elder Wand", and that wand is the wand you hold in your hands right now," he began, in a grandfatherly "story-telling" voice.

"If you are to believe legends, and in the Wizarding world, one will learn that to every legend, there is always some semblance of truth, then perhaps this story may interest you," he said 'there was once a story of three brothers who were walking, and in time, came upon a river too deep and dangerous to swim or wade across, but because the brothers were learned in the magical arts, they produced a bridge over the river. At the middle of the bridge, they came across a hooded figure, Death himself. Death was enraged, for the clever brothers crossed over the river unharmed while the previous travelers drowned in the dangerous waters. Death pretended to congratulate the wizards and told them they each deserved a prize for their marvelous magic," Ollivander paused there to gather his thoughts.

"The oldest of the brothers, who was a combative man, asked for a duel-winning wand, also worthy for a wizard who conquered Death. So Death retrieved a branch from an Elder Tree and fashioned a wand to give to the oldest brother," he explained, motioning to the wand in Harry's hands causing Remus's and Harry's eyes to widen in shock "the second of the brothers, who was arrogant, wanted to humiliate Death further and asked for the power to recall the dead. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to him and told him that the stone had the power of resurrection. The youngest brother was the humblest, the wisest, and did not trust Death in the slightest. He asked for something enabling him to move on without being followed by Death. So Death most unwillingly gave up his Cloak of Invisibility to the brother. After this, Death moved out of the way, and the brothers discussed their recent adventure," Ollivander was pleased to see that he had both Harry and Remus enthralled by his tale. They should be, it was very important that they knew this information.

"In time, the brothers separated towards different adventures. The oldest brother engaged in duels which he always won, boasting about his invincible wand from Death. One night, however, when he was asleep, a jealous wizard crept up on him, slit the brother's throat, and took the wand for himself; Death then took the first brother for his own," he said to the surprised duo. Harry looked at his wand warily, but still held it in an iron-like grip, not willing to give it up.

"The second brother had a home where he lived alone; he got the stone out one day and turned it thrice in his hand. The woman who he hoped to marry, only to have died previously, appeared before him. She was separated from her deathly world and was sad and cold. Driven mad, the second brother killed himself and rejoined his love in death; Death then took the second brother for his own," he paused, his eyes flickering as he tried to remember the rest of the tale.

"Death never found the youngest brother until he took off the cloak and passed it to his son. Death appeared upon the youngest brother who greeted him as an old friend and they departed from the world as equals.

The three objects that death fashioned for the brothers were forever known as the Deathly Hallows. It is said that whoever wields all three of the hallows will be considered the master of death, so you see why that wand can be considered a blessing and a curse . . ."

Harry finally said to Mr. Ollivander, "No offense, sir, but that story seems a might…extravagant? And I doubt that the Elder Wand would make a person unbeatable in a duel. Wouldn't it just more finely tune a wizard's ability to summon and cast magic?"

"I assume it will Mr. Potter, for the last user of that wand was the Dark Lord Grindelwald himself. And yet Albus Dumbledore, which the wand rejected, was able to defeat him in a duel. So he gave the wand to me so I could one day find its proper owner. It seems that time has come. With all such things aside, can I interest you in an exclusive dragon-hide wand holster?" Ollivander asked, his eyes gleaming.

Remus and Harry left the store with his money bag depleted of yet another 15 galleons, Harry cradling his new wand closely.

**AN: There will be very slow updates. At least that's what I think. No flames please as this _is_ my first fanfic. Oh yeah, and by the way, Harry was really powerful in the beginning because it was a situation of probably great stress. Sorta like super accidental magic. Yes, Harry will probably be super powerful, but he will work his butt off to reach that goal.**

**I made up Lily's and James' wands cuz I was too lazy to search them up.**

**Also, don't be like the Guest in the reviews. This is AU, so this is MY WORLD.**

**BWAHAHAHAHA!**

**Signing off,**

**Paperfist.**

**P.S. Any pairing suggestions? **


	2. Chapter 2

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 2

By: Paperfist

Harry strolled into King's Cross Station, on September 1st, with Remus and Sirius beside him. For the past month he had been either in his bedroom buried under a mound of books or at Grimmauld Place trying to get either Remus or Sirius to teach him more magic. Harry was determined to prove that he was better at everything than his brother. He growled when an overexcited muggleborn pushed him aside and sprinted towards Platform 9. It was the usual hustle and bustle as onlookers would look strangely at a horde of young kids chattering excitingly and carrying large trunks and pets.

"Well pup, it seems as if you are growing up huh? Seems as if it was only yesterday you were bawling to me about getting you a broomstick."

"Shut up Padfoot."

"Language!"

"Shut up Moony."

Harry smirked as he heard Remus splutter and choke on his spit. When he arrived at Platform 9, he looked slightly confused.

Sirius and Remus let him squirm for a little bit, until Remus finally took pity on him and said, "The entrance to the platform is through that column over there. It's best if you run the first time; it's pretty disconcerting at first."

Harry ran, steeling himself and preparing to go right through the wall…

Only to run into a solid wall.

Remus and Sirius were trying to control their laughter and not fall on the floor in their mirth. Harry clutched his bleeding head, swearing at the Wizarding World. Nothing made sense here! Shouldn't Platform 9¾ be on the side of the column closest to Platform 10? Harry glared at the two guffawing men, went over to the other side, and walked into the entrance. Remus and Sirius soon followed, and as soon they went through, they fell straight into the ground, moaning pitifully and rolling on the ground in pain.

Which, of course, is the normal reaction to getting socked in the balls real, real, hard.

Harry ran around yelling, "Help me! I was nearly caught by those pedophiles over there! I was going to be raped! Help me! Please! I could've been sexually abused! Sir! Please! Don't let those two men get anyone else!" attracting the attention of a nearby Auror.

After an intense, heated argument and nearly getting pummeled by said Auror, a still laughing Harry finally convinced the Auror not to arrest the two men.

Finally, Harry boarded the train, saying his goodbyes to an irate Remus and Sirius.

"Thanks Remus, yes I'll be fine. Bye Sirius, take care of Moony for me when his…problem kicks in alright? Good."

Sirius glared angrily at Harry. "This isn't over Harry; I'll get you good soon!" His gaze softened for a moment and he said to Harry, "Take care of yourself pup. See you at Christmas."

Harry smiled and nodded. His voice suddenly turned cold and emotionless, eyes turning yellow for a moment. "See you both too. And tell…Mother and Father that I will be staying at Grimmauld Place for Christmas ok?"

Both Sirius and Remus winced painfully. "Ok."

With that, Harry turned away and boarded the train.

Sirius and Remus exchanged worried glances. Finally, Remus spoke. "If Lily and James don't open up to Harry now, I don't think they will ever be able to get him to love them."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully and replied, "Let's just hope nothing bad happens because of this."

Remus tipped his head in agreement, and with that, they turned away from the accelerating train and back into King's Cross Station.

* * *

Harry walked through the packed train. In each compartment, friends reconnected, pranks were pulled, heated arguments were turned into fights; some with wands, some without. In a few compartments, the shades were pulled down, and the locks were set, but the erotic noises coming from them were more than enough to tell Harry what was going on in them. Sirius would have a field day here he thought wryly to himself. Finally, near the back of the train, nearly empty compartment caught Harry's eye. A handsome boy with friendly boyish features, light brown hair and caramel eyes was talking literally nonstop towards a bored yet attractive girl with straight nearly black hair and clear blue eyes. Also sitting in the compartment was a dirty blond haired boy and dark blue eyes who was half-heartedly listening to the compartment.

Harry flicked his wand at the door, said, "_Aperi_," and it slid open smoothly. As soon as he had stepped in he asked, "Can I sit here?"

The girl scrutinized him for a moment and then said, "Sure."

The brown-haired boy said, "Hello! What's your name? Mine is Samuel Greengrass! But everyone calls me Sam for short. And that splendid girl over there is-"

"I'm Samantha Zabini," said the "splendid" girl, glaring at Samuel.

"Calm down Sammy."

"DON'T CALL ME SAMMY!"

Harry smirked and turned to the compartment's last occupant. "And your name is...?"

The dirty blond boy spoke, a little timidly, "I'm Cedric…Cedric Diggory."

Harry nodded. "Pleased…to meet you all."

Harry turned to look outside, admiring the scenery privately for a moment and then reached into the pouch around his neck, pulling out _Changing the Human Body: Advanced Transfiguration_ by _Professor Harrison H. Forbes_.

Sam frowned for a moment, before asking, "What's your name my good friend?"

Harry looked up from his book for a moment before answering tersely, "Harry Potter."

Samuel gaped. "The brother of the Boy-Who-Lived? Can you get me an autograph from him?"

Harry again looked up from his book to give Samuel an extremely cold gaze, with eyes as hard as green chips of ice, which lowered the temperature of the room by several degrees. Silence followed for a couple moments, before two laughing boys, one with almost pure blond hair and cultured features and the other with a more rugged face with brown hair tumbled in.

"Hey guys. Sorry for comin' in. But there's no other compartment. Can we join you in this…wonderfully quiet compartment?"

"Fine!" Samantha huffed in annoyance. "Take this as a favor Davies and Malfoy."

The two boys reared up in indignation. "A favor! C'mon! Nice ta see you again Ceddie and Sam. Who's that kid?"

"He's the brother to the Boy-Who-Lived!"

Harry took of his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Shut up you ass-head!"

"He can get autographs! Maybe we can even meet him!"

"Really! Awesome!"

Together, the three boys advanced on Harry.

Looking in his book, and reading a spell, Harry flicked his wand out and pointed it Sam. "_Creare asinus aures_!"

The three boys flinched for a moment, but nothing happened, so they kept on closing in.

Suddenly, Samantha shrieked. The three boys turned around, and looked in the direction of Samantha's pointed finger. Two of the three boys yelled in horror. The third had no idea what was going on.

"What's wrong guys? It's not like I have the head of an ass or anything." Sam grumbled.

Harry smirked in satisfaction and went back to his book.

Samantha screamed at Harry, "Get those horrid ears off of him!"

Harry replied coolly, "I told him that he was an ass-head. Looks like I was right the whole time."

"What the hell is wrong?" Sam half screamed.

Looking in his book again, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, Harry flicked his wand with all his willpower he was able to conjure a small mirror. Harry gasped in exertion and returned his wand to his holster.

Quickly, Sam snatched the mirror out of mid-air and screeched in horror when he saw himself in the mirror.

"Ahhhh! What the fuck! Take these goddamned donkey ears off of me!"

By this time the fright had gone away and the three other boys were rolling on the floor laughing.

"Don't worry Samuel. Professor McGonagall will take them off." The blond boy said between laughs.

"Shut up Malfoy."

Harry glanced at the two newcomers before asking, "By the way, who are you two?"

The blond haired boy said, "Sorry. I completely forgot my manners. I'm Elan Malfoy and the boy currently rocking on the floor is Roger Davies."

"Sorry." The brown haired boy pulled himself back up. "Wassup?"

"Ah. I see."

With that, Harry returned his to his book and remained that way through of the chaos of Elan, Roger, and Cedric attempting to pull off Sam's ears, Samantha kneeing all three of them as well as Sam for "getting yourself into this mess" and attempted to do the same with Harry, only for her knee to hit Harry's quickly brought up forearm.

After a couple hours of this, they received a warning that they would be arriving at Hogwarts. Harry looked up, smirking at a still irate Samantha, and said, "Unless you want us to start doing lap dances for you Samantha, I believe you would want to get out."

Samantha fiercely blushed and fled the room promptly after that, making Sam to let out a groan. Elan grinned at Sam. "Maybe another day Sam, maybe another day."

Sam growled and let loose a beam of accidental magic at Roger, which missed and rocketed back at Sam, giving him a nice addition of a 10 days growth of beard with his noticeably limper donkey ears.

Harry merely flicked his wand, and a black haze formed around him, preventing anyone from looking inside.

Sam, being the ever curious one stuck is head in the mist and was rewarded for his nosiness by being blasted across the compartment with visible electricity traveling from his long furry ears to the bottom of his shoes. The blue white tendrils of electricity gathering at Sam's beard and making it smoke. Elan and Roger roared with laughter, and Harry stuck out his head from the barrier and glared at Sam. A few seconds later, the thick haze vanished and Harry reappeared, clothed in his school robes.

He then sat down again, pulled out his transfiguration book and buried his head in it.

Finally, the train slowly pulled into the station, the horn resonating into the darkness surrounding it. Harry placed his book back into his trunk and stalked outside of the compartment, closely followed by an excitable Sam, an awestruck Roger, a bored Elan, and a furious Samantha.

"Firs' Years o'er here!" an enormous man yelled, a giant lantern in one hand and the other waving frantically. Harry wondered idly if the man had any giant's blood in him. There was no other possible way he could be that large. "I'm Hagrid, the Keeper of the Keys and the Grounds of Hogwarts. Follow me everyone!"

He led the party down a separate path than what the other students were taking, down to a large, deep lake that seemed to stretch endlessly.

"Three people to a boat!" yelled the probable half giant. The lakeside was as clear as glass, the surface reflecting the moon. On the sides of the lake, huge old trees probably older than Hogwarts itself climbed sharply. On a jutting cliff, a pack of wolves watched them pass and howled to the moon in their tribute.

Harry, Sam, and Samantha clambered onto a boat, leaving a protesting Elan and a still glassy-eyed Roger on the shore. Harry looked down at the smooth water, admiring its features before a giant tentacle swung forward straight towards him.

Harry's eyes opened widely before he ducked, a lifetime of avoiding pranks from both Sirius and Remus finally paying off. Behind him, Sam shrieked in surprise as a slimy tentacle wrapped around him and dragged him out above the water. Harry watched, amused, as Samantha desperately tried to get him down.

Sam let one last scream before being dragged beneath the water. Silence reigned. Samantha was looking with shock and horror at the water, now murky. Harry wondered if she was thinking about how mean she was to him his whole life and how she now realized her deep, profound feelings for him. Everyone was staring at the water, wondering what the fate of the poor boy was.

Suddenly, an enormous head erupted from the water, two bright, intelligent eyes contorted in disgust. Its enormous mouth opened, and from huge rows of teeth, it coughed out a mucus covered object.

The object landed right back into the boat, causing the boat to nearly capsize. It moved, wriggling, reaching for Samantha. She screamed and moved backwards towards the stern of the boat. Finally, Harry had enough of this. Flicking his wand out, he said, "_Aguamenti_."

A jet of water erupted from his wand, drenching the object. It yelled, "What the hell?"

Concentrating again, Harry sliced downwards with his wand, saying, "_Evanesco,_" an almost invisible beam of light hitting the object. In less than a second, a furious, yet confused Sam was standing on the boat stark naked.

The whole group erupted in laughter and horrified screams. Harry smirked. Maybe he should let him be humiliated in a…permanent manner. However, Harry finally took pity on him, and focusing intensely, managed to conjure a small towel. A little pale and shaky, he handed it to Sam, who took it gladly to cover his nether regions.

"That was Betsy the giant squid," the huge man said lovingly. "Don't worry, she's completely harmless."

Harry smirked at that sentence, and tried to imagine the two getting a room then shuddered in horror at the thought. He returned his attention to the scene ahead. As they rounded the bend, the castle of Hogwarts appeared in view. Nearly everyone burst into awe-struck gasps, and Harry had to admit it was a humbling sight.

The towers stretched far up into the sky, seemingly never ending. The many lights bathed the heavens in a yellow glow, yet the stars up above did not diminish one bit. Gargoyles shaped into knights and beasts towered far above them, no doubt striking fear and awe into those who dare attack the castle.

Finally reaching a small cove, the Hagrid stomped out of his personal boat (any more people, than the boat would've obviously sunk) and needlessly told everybody to follow him. A winding path brought them up to an enormous gate, where Hagrid knocked three times.

The mighty gates swung open, and a strict looking woman in black robes and a black pointy hat emerged. "Good evening and Welcome to Hogwarts, first years. I am Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress, Head of the Gryffindor House, and your Transfiguration teacher this year. Please follow me as you will be Sorted very shortly."

She then turned around and led the first years down several corridors to a small chamber near a huge room, where the chatter and excited whispers told the first years that the main congregation was seated in there.

Professor McGonagall said in a proud voice, "There are four different houses in Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each one of these houses has certain traits that match them, for example Gryffindor is the house of the brave, while Slytherin is the house of the cunning and of the sly. You will be sorted into the Houses based on your traits and qualities. Now, I must take the roll. Elias Anchorhead? Here. Soha Ajhad? Here…"

Harry smirked at Samuel, who was shivering, holding a small towel around his crotch, not to mention his limp donkey ears and his wet beard.

"Samuel Greengrass…What in God's name happened to you child? My Goodness! Not even a day in Hogwarts and you're already getting into all sorts of mischief," Professor McGonagall said harshly. Whipping her wand out, she transfigured a robe, and with another two flicks of her wand, the huge beard and limp donkey ears were gone, leaving a very relieved yet humiliated Sam.

Harry shook his head and looked back at McGonagall, who had just finished the list. "Now children, please follow me to the Great Hall."

The first years assembled quietly, some shrieking when the ghosts burst through the wall and continued to the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall turned around and led the unruly line down to a set of intricately carved doors. With a flick of her wand, the doors creaked open and the party gasped, both at the sheer amount of people and the beauty of the Hall.

There were four magnificent tables, each covered in their corresponding colors. A prominent Head Table filled the front of the room, 4 colossal banners with a snake, and eagle, a lion, and a badger displayed proudly one each. Beneath the snake banner was a sallow, pale man with greasy hair and a hook nose. Sitting next to him, under the eagle, was an unbelievably small man with a squeaky voice and small glasses. The Headmaster's seat followed then an empty chair, and finally a round woman with a puffy red nose and kind blue eyes.

Professor McGonagall walked up to a small stool holding an old-looking black wizard's hat and pulled out a roll up scroll from her sleeve.

Harry was a but surprised when a coughing noise emerged from the hat, as if it were clearing its throat, before the creases of the material contorted to a face of sorts. It opened its mouth and began to sing. Harry frowned. The Wizarding World might have a lot of very strange things, but a hat that could actually talk to you? Even that was a little weird for the Wizarding World.

_Oh you may not think me pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat my self if you can find,_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep you bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm a Hogwarts Sorting Hat,_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head, _

_The Sorting Hat can't see._

_So try me on and I will tell you,_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell at brave of heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
you'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends_.

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

Everybody in the Hall applauded politely at the end of the song. Harry glanced at the rest of the first years, who all looked pale and slightly shaky. He sighed and waited for the first name to be called.

"Anchorhead, Elias!" Professor McGonagall called out. A small boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes scurried from the line. Professor McGonagall gave him a tight-lipped smile and motioned to the small stool, which he took. The Deputy Headmistress than placed the hat, on top of his head, though it was so large it engulfed its head. After a short wait the hat opened its mouth and yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"

The boy blushed as the Slytherin Table welcomed their newest addition. The robes of the boy immediately turned to the corresponding color of his new house.

"Davies, Roger." Harry looked on with slight interest. After

"Diggory, Cedric," McGonagall called afterwards, catching Harry's attention as he was a fairly good kid. The Hat took a little bit longer of a time, finally shouting out "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Cedric smiled proudly at something the hat said and walked with his head high to the cheering Hufflepuff table. Harry shrugged and waited.

Soon enough, McGonagall called, "Greengrass, Samuel." The young scion of Greengrass walked nervously up the center. Sam's face disappeared from view when the Hat covered it completely, the imprint of Sam's frightened face still in Harry's eyes. The Sorting Hat again took a long time, seemingly arguing with Sam. Finally, the Hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry smirked at Sam's confused face. Samuel in Ravenclaw? The Hat must be on drugs he thought to himself.

Soon after, Elan was called up. Like most others in his family, he was placed fairly quickly into Slytherin.

Finally it was his turn. "Potter, Harry."

Almost immediately, the Hall exploded in whispers. "The brother of the Boy-Who-Lived? I didn't even know he had a brother! Can he get me an autograph? Man, I need to be friends with that kid so when he invites me over I can meet _him_!" caused Harry to clench his teeth and tighten his fingers in his palm.

He stalked up the center, loathing the eyes upon him, seeing him as a link to his "all-great" brother. He sat down on the stool stiffly and regally, eyes as emotionless and hard as glass. The Sorting Hat slowly covered his view, and Harry let his mind fall in a blank state to hopefully confuse the Sorting Hat.

"My, my. Occulemency is very clever Mr. Potter, but I'm sorry to say it will not work against me," a voice suddenly said inside his mind. "Some who are skilled enough can eject all foreign substances from their minds, but you are not even close to that skill yet. However, very impressive for a first year."

Harry still stubbornly kept his mind secure, projecting false memories in hope the Hat would not be able to read it, to discover his deepest, darkest, secret.

"Let's see, you hate, or maybe I should say dislike your parents and your brother for…depriving you of love for eight years hmmm? Oh my, a fire and ice elemental, very powerful, the ability to control lightning and all forms of electricity is extremely rare and unusual. But...your hate. Your anger. Your contempt for the spoiled and dislike for the pompous. Your anger at you family points to one event. October 31st, 1981. The day of Voldemort's death. And what's this? The true Boy-Who-Lived!"

"So what, Hat?" Harry sneered. "Going to report me to Dumbledore now are you? You try that and your pathetic gossiping self might just become a pile of gossiping ash."

"Oh don't worry, and please don't be so vicious…why would I neutralize my only form of entertainment for the next couple decades or so? Back to that night. Hmm…when I scan through your mind, I see many memories that are not yours, thousands upon thousands of memories that one cannot comprehend easily. Things from two men dueling with blue energy swords on a fiery planet to a man screaming and crying on a beach with a rusting, tilted statue with a bent crown, holding a long-gone flame and a cracked book, half buried in the sand. Many many things, Mr. Potter. So much knowledge it can fill a complete library. Probably even more. Just taking a look through them, you can learn much about power, life, love and many other lessons. The decision is yours Mr. Potter. If you choose to go to Slytherin or Ravenclaw, you will reach the greatest heights and very well prove yourself. But you will never forgive your current family members for your betrayal. If you choose Hufflepuff or Gryffindor, you will live in obscurity forever but regain the love that you once shared with your family. It is up to you."

Harry grew cold and angry at the words. "I never want to do anything with my family again. They have done much worse harm to me than anyone else has ever done. Let them rot in hell for all I care."

The Sorting Hat literally shook his head. "Strong words for such a young person. I admit it is cruel to literally be cast out of your family. Terrible it is, yet I think you should forgive your family, for they are only misguided. Well, as I am Gryffindor's old hat, so perhaps I'm a little biased. Anyways, if you choose to go to the darker side, than here is my advice for you. Just remember that all power comes at a price. Yours, however great it may be, will come at a greater price."

"I understand."

"I will not tell Dumbledore nor anyone else about this conversation. The next couple decades, or maybe even centuries will turn out interesting thanks to you."

"I might visit someday, Hat. Thank you for your advice."

"You are welcome, Mr. Potter. Now, for your house."

"It doesn't matter. The one you think is best. I don't care as long as I learn the magic."

"Well, then that's easy. You better be-"

**AN: So that's that. Cookies for anyone that can figure out what the other reference about the man crying and screaming on a beach with a crowned statue blah blah blah. It's not that hard, just checking to see if any of you are old enough to have watched it. Not that I'm _that_ old. :P**

**This is not a manipulative Dumbledore. He is just trying to do what he thinks is best and does not discriminate against Harry.****Also, all credit to the Crimson Lord for, "All power comes at a price, Hate. Ours just comes at an even greater price," from Deprived.**

**By the way, should I skip ahead to year 3 of Hogwarts (when his brother comes to Hogwarts) or just keep it the way it is? I'm leaning towards not skipping, but the choice is up to you. I will probably have to update next week unless I have a miracle stroke of luck and write it in a day.**

**Again…any pairing suggestions? I don't really like Harry/Ginny because…It's not my cup o' tea. Remember that Harry is three years older than canon, so it'll be strange if he's in 7th year and he is dating a fourth year. **

**And also, reviews are welcome, very very welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: To Guest: No. Tell me where it says that they are twins. Also, Dumbledore is starting Adam early in training magic to prepare against Voldemort. I apologize if I didn't make it clear beforehand.**

**To 917brat: Remember that Harry is much more cold and reserved than usual, so maybe later the Twins and Harry will become friends. As for Bill, I don't have him as a main or central character. No, I doubt this will be a slash story because I can't write slash. If I do it turns out really really bad.**

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 3

By: Paperfist

"RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat shouted. Around, the Hall exploded in relieved whispers; for his Sorting had taken by far the longest, and people were starving. Harry ignored the fake pats on the back which he knew were used to curry favor and perhaps meet his brother. He turned Sam and asked him, "Where do you think Samantha will end up?"

Sam replied eagerly, "The Sorting Hat said I would be [his eyes turned glassy for a moment] with her if I was Sorted into Ravenclaw. So it's obvious that she will be Ravenclaw. See! Here she comes now!"

Walking briskly towards the stool after the second excitable Weasly twin had exited it was Samantha. She sat on the stool and the Sorting Hat covered her face from view. Sam grinned in anticipation. "She's going to Ravenclaw, I ju-"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"NO!" The look on Sam's face was so pitiful yet funny that Harry had to burst out in laughter. He glanced over at Samantha and laughed even louder when she looked relieved.

Suddenly, Dumbledore stood up and flicked his wand. A small bang brought all the attention in the hall to him.  
"Welcome students - new and old - to another year of learning magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" Dumbledore greeted amidst the silence of the hall. "Before we begin with the feast," he trailed off amidst the groans of protests from hungry students, "a few quick announcements are in order. As you know, Mrs. Thicknesse can no longer be your Defense professor due to wanting to seek a career within the ministry of magic, so your new Defense against the Dark Arts professor will be Professor Robards, who has served as an Auror for the ministry of magic for 6 years - please make him feel welcome."  
There was a polite applause for the new professor who stood from his seat a few seats down from Dumbledore. The man had the look of a dashing rookie with a predatory gleam in his eye. Harry's features contorted in disgust when he noticed the new professor's eyes wandered a bit too long on some of the prettier girls in the Hall.  
"As always, the Forbidden forest is just that; Forbidden, any students caught out of bounds will be given an instant detention with our resident caretaker, Mr. Filch," he commented, motioning to a scraggy and cruel looking man with long dirty hair and a grey cat by his side.  
"Aside from that, I don't wish to hold you from your meals much longer, so enjoy!" he announced, and with a clap, the tables were instantly filled with a banquet of food, easily more then every student could eat, appearing before them. The food ranged from chicken, corn, bread, soups, steak, mashed potatoes, peas, all sorts of vegetables and pitches of Pumpkin juice. The sight of all the still steaming dishes almost made Harry drool in delight; he hadn't realized how hungry he was until just then.  
Sam was glum throughout the feast, with Harry taking little interest in any conversation and deflecting any questions from the elder house-mates. Roger was talking earnestly with a couple of the new first-years, including Rachel Pennysworth, a rather bubbly yet intelligent looking blonde haired girl. Beside the two sat a shy girl who seemed to be just listening in on other's conversations, he remembered her to be Rhona Simmonds, a girl with light brown hair and rosy cheeks. Beside Sam were two other boys Harry couldn't remember the names of as well as Anthony Silvers, who boasted about preferring the name "Tony". Harry snorted. Who cared about such trivial things? He dug for his Occulemency Book an enlarged pocket in his robes, pulled it out, and began to read.

By this time, Sam had warmed up and began to talk loudly and boisterously. It went on for the extreme amount of time during the feast, which Harry found extremely irritating. The consistent chatter gave him a headache.

Just as Sam was about to take a huge bite of a delicious chocolate cake, the food vanished and Sam took a nice big bite of his own hand. Harry smirked again and turned his attention to the head of the Hall once more.

"I'm sure you all enjoyed that meal, now if you will, follow your house prefects back to your house common rooms - first years should pay attention to where you're going to avoid getting lost in the future, this castle has a habit of doing that to people," he exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye "Good evening."  
Immediately, the students filed out of the hall, Sam with one last look towards "his love" before they were lead away to the western wing of the castle by the fifth year Ravenclaw prefects. On their way, they passed numerous moving portraits that waved to them politely and left some remarks as they passed - one rather bubbly portrait of a girl and her family winked and giggled at him as he passed, commenting on how cute he was, despite his embarrassment as it just seemed to draw attention to him.  
Eventually, they arrived at Ravenclaw tower, which Harry noticed was conveniently close to the library, where they stopped in front of a door with no keyhole or handle, merely a bronze eagle door knocker that seemed to be alive.  
"Before you gain entrance, first you must answer me this." before the eagle door knocker continued, the prefect explained.  
"Ravenclaw is a house that values intelligence, creativity, wisdom and wit, to gain entry into your common room you will need to answer a riddle or intellectual question, if you cannot answer, you will not gain entry" explained the boy before the girl spoke up.  
"Don't worry, you get used to it" she said with a smile "if you don't get it, ask someone else to help you do it, or even Professor Flitwick, our head of house, if you can't find someone - his office is just down the hall."

A emotionless female voice suddenly spoke. "Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?"

The prefects let the first-years squirm for a bit. Harry, bored to the death and just wanting to get some sleep, spoke up. "Fire."

"Correct," the door knocker said. The wall opened to reveal a hidden door.

Harry stepped inside the now open door, jut wanting to crash out on his bed after an extremely taxing day. Inside the main common room, high grey walls were covered in blue and gold banners and insignias. A small chamber to the left of the room led to a nicely sized library for those who didn't want to travel all the way to the main library. Plush soft loveseats, couches, armchairs in blue were neatly placed on a more cozy side of the room next to a fire. On the opposite side nearest to the mini library, working tables and cushioned chairs were situated quite nicely against a wall charmed to act like a window from the inside, and a…well, wall from the outside.

"Boys on the left, girls on the right!" the male prefect said imperiously. The contingent of boys slowly trudged alongside the corridor. The prefect stopped outside a small eyeball whizzing around excitedly on an intricately designed doorway. He spoke, "This eye is charmed to recognize your faces so no one else can get in. Don't worry, this door is near-complete spell proof, so force will not work either."

With that, an unruly line formed, and the procession slowly grew smaller. Finally, everyone got through and the door closed with a resounding thud. "Please go to your assigned room, you will share a dorm with two other people."

To Harry's mild pleasure yet some annoyance, he ended up with Sam and Roger. Sam's and Roger's trunks were neatly placed on top of their dorm beds. Harry smirked when the other two looked at him with confusion when they saw his bed had no trunk on it.

Harry just smiled, flicked his hand, and pulled a small object from his pocket. Sam and Roger were so entranced by the "cool" looking wand that both nearly missed the magic. "Engorgio."

The small object grew exponentially until the three were looking at a normal-sized trunk. Harry's eyelids drooped as he barely mustered the energy to reform the black haze that he used on the train. This time, Sam was smart enough to not stick his head in it again.

Finally, Harry released the spell and the mist dissipated into nothingness. He fell back, completely exhausted, and barely even listened when both Roger and Sam asked eagerly, "Where did you learn that smell? The…engoriwajamacall it?"

Harry groaned in annoyance and replied, "It's in The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk. Go look it up yourself, idiots."

With the last reserves of his strength, he cast a Silencing charm on his curtains and laid back into the peaceful land of Morpheus, only he knew it was not peaceful at all.

He was in a burning castle, the fiery eyes of his enemy glinting as he raised a sword and charged. His enemy was driven back under Harry's repeated blows. Finally, Harry had disarmed his enemy and had grabbed him by the collar.

The handsome face ruined by the lust for power glared at him. "I cannot be killed by any man!"

Harry replied in a voice that was not his, "Than I will leave you in the hands of fate."

Harry's spectral arms dropped the man down the side of the castle. Harry than spoke, "Requiestat en pace, bastardo."

He turned away…

He was on a fiery planet fighting fiercely against a younger man. The other man held a blue energy sword and was glaring at him with pure hate, a band of yellow surrounding his now soul-less eyes. Harry fought back with his own sword, swallowing down his revulsion when he saw mutilated bodies of alien creatures with frozen expressions of horror lying on the floor. He twisted his eyes back to the monster who had done this, steeling himself to fight once more…

He was in a small room, crying over a mound of papers, the last line reading P.P.S Please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bakyard…

He was inside a volcano a bloody hand clasping onto another person's, the other face desperate and filled with determination.

"Don't...let…go," the other gasped. Harry lifted his other hand and with all his strength heaved himself up and away, running with his companion out of the cursed volcano…

Then, it became a lot worse.

He was standing in a ruined city, rubble littering the streets. The dead were left here to rot, the fires burning continually. One of the undead appeared, its face the mutilated form of Minister Fudge. Harry's arm lashed forward, and a bolt of fire erupted, burning the corpse to a crisp. The headquarters of the Muggle and Wizarding government, now united, stood behind him, the last symbol of government and civilization in Britain. He stalked forward, the Undead stumbling towards him were deposed of with a mass of flies, werewolves trying to devour him frozen permanently in ice. Masked men, Death Eaters Harry realized, ran towards him, wands aimed to kill. All were incinerated in a jet of orange flame.

All except one. A black ungodly shield formed right before the blast of fire reached him. The figure lifted his head, red eyes burrowing deeply into Harry's.

It smiled, the cruel sickened face of a turned Tom Riddle staring at Harry. Its features twisted evilly as it raised its wand straight at him. A flock of bloodthirsty bats burst forth at him, only to be transfigured into a mound of ravenous sea rats, each 4 feet long. Harry banished the rats at Voldemort, who let out 8 Killing Curses. The rats fell, stone dead.

Voldemort sent a beam of black light at him, which Harry caught with a beam ice, freezing the spell. He then let out continual spikes of ice at a fantastic speed, many piercing Voldemort's body. He leaped into a back flip to avoid the sickly yellow beam of the Torture Curse. He sent a bone-breaker at his enemy. Voldemort screamed in pain when the curse hit a rib and let loose a blast of magical energy, throwing Harry off his feet. A green beam of light entered through the dust, missing Harry by inches. Harry rolled over and sent beams of varying colors at a pace which was hard to match. Harry, in his conscious self, realized that he wasn't using only "light" magic.

Harry's wand melted into the form of a sword, slicing another Killing Curse into two. He leaped forwards destroying or deflecting all of Voldemort's spells. When he hit the ground, he slashed his sword downwards, a thin blade of magic slicing through the air at an unimaginable pace. Voldemort shouted in anger and pain when the magic sliced of his left arm. He paused for a moment, waved his wand, and a silver arm took his former limb's place.

Voldemort resumed the duel, but he could not win. Growling in hatred for his enemy, he began to pool his energy. He hissed, and his snake Nagini slithered at a fantastic pace, then struck with lightning speed. Harry jumped over her and sliced diagonally downwards, slicing off her head neatly.

Voldemort grew more and more frustrated, anger and his reserves of energy he had collected from his foes filling his limbs with an unnatural power. Voldemort had enough. Harry's eyes widened as a visible wave of energy and magic flattened everything, Harry sprawling a good distance from Voldemort. Through the smoke and choking earth thrown in the air, a black figure appeared, the nightmare of his dreams, his enemy, triumphant in his kill.

"Good-bye Potter. Now I shall rule, and my reign will be remembered by ALL. _Avada-_!"

"NO!" yelled Harry. He leaped to his feet, throwing spells in all directions, hoping to go down fighting. He had to survive. He cast everything he could with the desperation of a man about to die but with a slim chance to live, high-powered Reductos, Diffindos, anything that could work.

"STOP HARRY IT'S US, ROGER AND SAM!"

Shocked out of his fighting rage by the desperate voice, Harry sat down again, sweating and pale. Breathing slowly, he took in his surroundings. The dorm walls around him were all dented, shattered, ruined. The center of the room was cratered and smoking. On top flames were dancing on the canopy of his bed, ice freezing the poles that supported it completely. Groaning on the other bed was Sam, multiple cuts, tentacles coming out of his face and most of his clothes gone showing his burned, shrunken nether regions. Roger had a bloody nose, a cut above the eyebrow and a large broom-handle mustache gracing his glaring eleven year old face. Overall, it would've been a very entertaining sight if not for the seriousness of the situation.

A few seconds later, a squeaky voice said, "Surrender, intruder, for I am the vaunted Professor Flitwick, three time world champion of the International Dueling Championships!"

Less than a second later, the door burst open and a small figure raised his wand, a brilliant light shining the room brighter than midday. The face of Professor Flitwick appeared, frowning. "What in God's name happened hear children?"

Roger spoke, a tad bit more than annoyed. "Potter over there had a little…bad dream you can say and thought it was real."

Flitwick's frown was now focused on Harry. He sighed and spoke.

"Sorry Professor, I just had a terrible nightmare. I dreamed of, _him_," Harry half-lied.

The look on Flitwick's face immediately turned to an understanding look. "I see. Come Mr. Potter, for we must help these two." He glanced at moaning Sam. "To the Infirmary, that is."

Harry nodded. Flitwick asked him, "Do you know the Levitating Charm Mr. Potter.?"

Harry nodded again. Flitwick brightened up a little bit. "Could you show me an example please?"

Harry sighed, unwillingly flicking his wand back into his hand and incanting, "Wingardium Leviosa." The groaning form of Sam lifted slowly into the air.

"Very good!" Professor Flitwick said happily. "Mobilcorpus."

Sam floated behind them, followed by Roger. Around them, excited heads popped out of dorm doors. "Silence!" Professor Flitwick cried. "Go back to your beds, don't worry because I have everything under control."

Harry followed Flitwick through numerous corridors and staircases until they reached a clinic-like room with clean white beds on one end and a whole bunch of potions and magical equipment on the other.

"Poppy! I need your help here!"

Silence followed for a couple seconds, until a kindly old woman bustled out of the next room with her wand in hand. "Goodness Filius! It's only the first night here and someone is already injured?"

She walked briskly to Sam's near motionless figure and shook her head when she saw his burnt shrunken nether regions. She levitated him onto a nearby bed and repeated the procedure with Roger. Poppy waved her wand at all the cuts on Sam's body and they magically knitted back together. She flicked her hand and incanted, " ad"

The tentacles shrunk back into Sam's face, and finally a low-grade Stupefy put him in a deep sleep. She shook her head when she saw Roger's mustache and vanished it with a flick of her wand. Poppy again waved her wand and the cuts healed. Then cartilage in Roger's nose reshaped into its proper form.

"What happened Filius?"

"Ask young Mr. Potter here."

The two adults looked questioningly at Harry, who had silently watched the proceedings. He decided to tell a half truth. "I dreamed that…Voldemort [Harry grimaced at the shocked looks on the two's faces] was here. I tried to fight him off, but he was about to kill me, so I jumped up in a half-awakened stupor and I guess…well, this happened."

"Look at me Harry."

Harry stared into Flitwick's eyes, and felt the slight tug that signified a Legilimency probe. Harry slowly calmed his mind and constructed a dark void filled with tiny specks of light, each representing a memory. Slowly, Flitwick withdrew and looked sternly at Harry.

Silence reigned for a couple seconds. Finally Flitwick spoke. "I'll fix up your room Mr. Potter. You can stay here for the night." With that, he turned away into the darkness.

Poppy hurried over to him and handed him a vial. "Dreamless Sleep Potion. Just so that…this," she nodded to Sam and Roger's motionless forms, "doesn't happen."

"Thank you." Harry took the potion, and, exhausted, finally fell into a true sleep.

Professor Flitwick surveyed his handiwork after he had finished. The damage that the young Potter had inflicted was astounding for his age, but then again, he was dreaming about the Dark Lord. Flitwick shuddered.

Yet a greater mystery remained. How did the young Potter know Occulemency? And why was it necessary? Flitwick doubted it was because out of an interest. Occulemency took years to master and much patience involved, something that the normal eleven year old didn't have unless they were driven to.

Flitwick turned away from the room and walked to Dumbledore's Office to give some strange news.

Harry woke very early in the morning the next day, where it was still completely dark. He felt much more refreshed than yesterday. He rolled quietly out of bed as not to disturb the others, and managed to summon his trunk from his dorm. A couple minutes later, the trunk flew in the room, only to be halted by a gesture from Harry's wand. Quickly and quietly, Harry changed into black Muggle clothing, shrunk his trunk, and placed it in his pocket.

Harry explored the castle with great interest. He had decided that he needed some sort of private place for himself, some place where he could unwind. He had no such luck, but he did find some cool passageways that led to numerous places. He returned to the infirmary some two hours later and was met by an irate Poppy. After apologizing profusely he changed into his school robes and shrunk his trunk once more.

Harry walked into the Great Hall, noting that almost nobody was up. So much for the better; he didn't need to hear the excessive chatter that always gave him a headache. He saw Samantha eating alone at the Slytherin Table so he dropped by and sat down.

"Hey Samantha."

"Harry."

"How was your first night?"

"Nasty. I have Jill Ann and Lily Mucilber as my roommates. They always gossip and enjoy the nasty rumors that always spread like wildfire here," she said, snorting in digust. "Not to mention the common room. It's in the freaking dungeons, cold and horrible. There is the smallest fire known to man there, with skulls and skeletons all around the walls." She shuddered. "How was your night?"

Harry sighed. "It was…interesting, to say the least." He ate an egg delicately. "Let's just say Roger and Sam aren't too pleased with me."

Samantha rolled her eyes. "What happened now?"

"I had a bad dream and may have accidentally, well, hexed them pretty badly."

"Are they OK?" Samantha asked. Harry thought wryly that now she seemed all worried over the state of Sam. "Is Sa-Are any of them hurt?"

Harry caught her slip but didn't say anything about it. "They're fine, just a little pissed off."

"What happened to them? Like, how did they look like?"

Harry looked into her eyes, forming a quick mental bond, and projected the images of last night.

Samantha gasped and was about to smack him when Sam and Roger limped into the Great Hall. Harry waved and motioned them to come. They quickly went, cracking their knuckles as they walked towards them.

"How was your night?" asked Harry, smirking at them.

"Sam! Are you OK? Oh you stupid idiot. You get into so much trouble!"

While the other two were busy arguing, Harry turned towards Roger and said seriously, "Sorry about yesterday Roger."

Roger winced. "It's OK, I've gotten bloody noses hundreds of times before its just that the mustache got me really pissed off."

Harry laughed. "I'll ask Professor Flitwick to ward your curtains or something so that they absorb spells instead of making them rip right through."

"Thanks."

A second later, a blonde blur jumped right between them. "How was yesterday night guys? Have any fun?"

Roger glared at Elan. "If you count getting a bloody nose and a broom handle mustache fun, sure yeah."

Elan asked curiously, "Say, what?"

Harry just rolled his eyes and walked up to Flitwick to receive his schedule, closely followed by a red cheeked Sam and Roger. He looked at the time table with little interest, noticing that he shared Transfiguration, Defense, Herbology, and Charms with the Slytherins. Today, he thought to himself, was going to be a long day.

Next to him, Sam was over the top excited that he shared so many classes with Samantha. Rolling his eyes, he went to the Ravenclaw Table to eat a solid breakfast before heading out to his first class, Potions with Hufflepuff.

When he arrived in the classroom, the dank and gloomy atmosphere already dulled the bright mood that the Hufflepuff naturally had. He sat down next to Sam and Roger, who were silent, knowing the reputation of the fearsome Potions Professor.

Immediately after Professor Snape entered the classroom, all talking stopped immediately, and everyone respectfully bowed their heads towards the Professor. All except one. Zacharias Smith smirked arrogantly as he swept his hand through his hair to make it seem wind-blown and "cool." He and his pureblood goons that somehow got into Hufflepuff (probably too stupid to go to Slytherin) the House of the loyal and hardworking were still talking animatedly. Cedric, sitting behind them, looked on in disgust.

"10 points from Hufflepuff for talking in class Mr. Smith."

Zacharias Smith curled his lip in contempt and spat on the floor near Snape's feet. "Why would I, a pureblood, bow to a son of a filthy Muggle like you, Snape?"

Snape's eyes flashed dangerously, and everyone in the room shrank away from him. Harry, when closing his eyes closed, could fell the slow swirl of magic surround the Professor. Harry could detect that Snape was not a man to be crossed, and a possibly a very good ally in the future. Screw whatever Sirius says to me, Harry thought.

"And you were friends with a _mudblood_ before our kind turned you away from that idiocy. Even worse, said mud-"

"50 points from Hufflepuff," Snape said softly. "And detention with Filch for a week."

"As I was saying," Zacharias sniffed imperiously. "Said mudbl-"

"Another 50 points for defiance and 15 points for using inappropriate language in the classroom," Snape's voice resonated through the classroom. "And if you continue to do this, it will be detention for the rest of the semester."

That shut up Smith. He sat down, glaring angrily at the floor.

Snape began to speak, "There will be no foolish wand-waving in this clas…"

Harry glanced at his surroundings. Potions ingrediants, spare cauldrons, large ladles, and test tubes filled all the space. Behind Professor Snape, a slightly lit room with an imposing desk and a storage room behind it signified that it was the office of Snape.

He was roused when Snapes voice turned harsh and he said, "Potter! Tell me what another name for asphodel and monkshood is. Now!"

Without missing a beat, Harry replied, "They are the same plant sir. More commonly known as wolfsbane."

Snape sneered. "What would I get if I added lacewing flies to a combination of boomslang skin and bicorn horn?"

"Polyjuice Potion, Professor."

"Kingsblood, Mr. Potter. A common ingredient in potions laboratories everywhere. But also a dangerous element if used in some… rarer… potions. Can you name three and describe them to me?"

"Blood-Serum, sir. Used to clear the veins and arteries of the human body of a particularly nasty strain of poison. An inappropriate amount can cause nearly as much damage as the poison it is supposed to cure."

Snape frowned. "Correct."

"Troll's Breath is another sir. When drunk, it imbues the drinker with the ability to spit highly toxic saliva. Its use is currently banned in thirty-six countries."

"Correct."

"The final one would be the Bombarding Elixir, sir. It consists of heavy doses of ground Kingsblood along with many other volatile ingredients. Its use was first documented by the Ottoman Empire when they hurled it in vast amounts against the magically warded walls of Constantinople to devastating effect."

"Correct Mr. Potter. Clearly, the apple falls far from the tree. It is interesting to see the Potter line may have some hope left. Moving on."

Sam looked with wide eyes at Harry. "I can't believe you survived that!" he whispered. Harry shrugged and moved his attention back to the front.

After brewing a simple potion to cure boils, which, to what looked like Snape's great annoyance, was the perfect potion, perhaps even better.

Harry's next class was transfiguration, with the Slytherins. The class was utmost boring, with the only highlight being Professor McGonagall turning into her cat form. When they were given the task of transfiguring a needle from a match, he quickly did the job and pulled out _Occulemency: Building the Memory Fortress _by _S.E. Simmons_ which was charmed to look like the cover of _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ thanks to Remus.

After two nice hours of learning an interesting new subject (not Transfiguration) Harry started off to History of Magic. The class was infamous for having one of the most boring teachers ever. Harry played this to his advantage because the ghost was not only boring, but totally unaware of any disturbance in his classroom. Again, Harry pulled out his Occulemency book and began to practice layering his mind.

Defense was totally useless, as the Defense Teacher was more focused on looking at the girls [_Eleven year old girls!_ Harry thought to himself] than actually teaching. His fairly good looks didn't help either. Professor Robards was currently going over a certain type pixie which involved you to bend over and cast the _Immobulus _charm. His demonstrators were always female, and he always sat to the back of the demonstrator Harry commented to Roger and Sam in disgust.

Charms was extremely easy, but Professor Flitwick had "chosen" him (more like forced him) to demonstrate to the class the levitation charm. However, professor Flitwick let him fool around for the rest of the time, so the demonstration was worth it.

At the end of the day, Harry collapsed on his bed, remembering that he only had half of his classes done. He barely registered Sam and Roger talking eagerly about their classes before he drifted into the realm of sleep.

**AN: I know the end sounds a little rushed but I wanted to get over this chapter because, well, it's just a filler chapter and I hate those.**

**Sadly there is literally no action in the coming chapters. The next one will go over the next couple months till Christmas, than the next chapter to the end of term. I'm not sure if I want to write all of second year out. I probably will though.**

**Don't expect another update till next week.**

**Pairing Suggestions? Thoughts? Criticism? Review**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: JUST SAYING, HARRY'S BROTHER ADAM IS STILL THREE YEARS YOUNGER THAN HARRY. HOWEVER, DUMBLEDORE IS STARTING HIS TRAINING EARLY SO THAT HE CAN EVENTUALLY FIGHT VOLDEMORT IF HE EVER COMES BACK. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION. **

**Also, sorry for some of the spells previously that didn't have anything in them. The words got butchered when I posted the chapter for some reason. **

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 4

By: Paperfist

Harry woke up at the break of dawn, yawning silently as the sun rose slowly over the horizon. He sat up, and silently stalked through the common room towards the exit of the Ravenclaw Tower. The door silently slid open, Harry stepping smoothly through and out into the empty halls of Hogwarts.

Harry shook his head. Only a week into term, and he had already been the only unprankable person, resulting in many of the Gryffindors, Peeves, Sam, and the now recently conscripted Weasley twins. He turned a corner, jumped over a fake step where Sam had broken his leg falling into it a day ago, and exited the castle to enter the Hogwarts grounds.

Harry was still searching for a decent place where he could hang out by himself. A pity that with the horde of prankers stalking him, he couldn't find a suitable place to claim as his own. In fact, not two days ago, he was nearly pummeled by a love-making couple in their "special spot." Harry shuddered. He had dodged past volleys of nearly harmful spells that each exploded inches away from his head. Not to mention the male seventh year later tracked him down and threatened to end his life if he ever dared trespass that "holy" spot ever again.

Harry walked along the path next to the Forbidden Forest, wishfully thinking of all the possible secret places that could be used for whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He sighed and turned away, knowing that he could not possibly survive the dangers in the Forest with his current skills, as advanced for his age as it were. He made a mental note to himself to work on his battle magic and defensive charms, and resolved to be able to become skilled enough to enter the forest by the end of term.

He turned back up to the road that lead to one of the…more secretive exits of the castle, preparing to eat a very early breakfast before heading to the library for a chance to study before his long, very easy classes.

He didn't even get one step in before he heard scraggly voice of Filch talking to his pet cat Mrs. Norris. Harry froze and backed slowly into the shadows, his black clothing blending in perfectly.

Filch looked around and growled, "That stupid fool Peeves. He lied to us! Saying that there was a student in this area just so that he could escape us! We'll get him next time eh, Mrs. Norris?"

The cat stared straight at Harry, but just purred in agreement. Filch turned back around and into the darkness, Mrs. Norris following him closely. However, just as she was about to disappear, she turned around, waved her tail, and ran off into the blackness.

Harry wondered what the cat did, and why she didn't turn him in to Filch. Harry shook himself and walked slowly to the Great Hall, not bothering to look around for patrolling prefects. When he arrived in the Great Hall, he sat down at the completely empty Ravenclaw Table, and called out, "Hogwarts Elf!"

Almost immediately a small pop was heard and a small elf with a huge chef's hat spoke to Harry in a squeaky voice, "Hello Mr…" the house elf paused for a moment and pulled out from thin air a huge roll list. Less than a second later the house elf continued, "Mr. Harry Potter sir! What do yous want?"

Harry smiled for a second before saying, "Can I please have an early breakfast please, house elf…?"

The house elf started to sniffle. "Dots. Thank yous so much Mr. Harry Potter. No one has ever been so kind to me, nor anyone else…"

Harry rolled his eyes and sent her off with a fast reprimand before the elf would start bawling on him. _House elves_, he thought to himself. Harry hoped that the breakfast would come soon.

He was not disappointed, as in less than a minute later a huge array of dishes was laid before him, sending Harry's stomach into a ravenous growl.

After a fairly filling breakfast, Harry left the Great Hall as the early birds slowly started to trickle into the Hall. Harry greeted a startled Elan and Samantha before walking towards the Library.

There, after being greeted by Madame Pince, who seemed to like him, Harry began to look into different subjects that suited his…personal tastes. Harry was especially interested in elemental magic, and if Madame Pince was surprised by his choice, she didn't show it.

After a nice hour of quiet study in the basic theories of the elements, Harry walked back up to the Ravenclaw Tower to fetch his class supplies. He sauntered down, accosted by a curious Sam.

"Care to tell me where you were today?" Sam asked discreetly.

Harry fixed him with a solid stare and replied, "I was out for a walk."

Sam snorted and kept on walking with a slight limp. "Care to specify?"

"In Hogwarts. How's your leg?"

Sam glared at Harry. "Much better, thank you. All because of that bloody fake stair that always pretends to be real. Fuckin-AHHH!"

Sam's right leg had fallen straight through the stair, coincidentally the same one in which he had broken his leg yesterday. Harry just smirked, stepped over the fake step, and left his highly annoyed friend stuck in a staircase yelling for help.

A few minutes later, Sam walked in the Hall again, limping even more pronounced than the day before, glaring at Harry.

Harry just smiled innocently and returned to his Quidditch talk with Roger.

As Sam neared, punching his fist into his palm, Harry told Samantha in a secretive voice how Sam had been moaning her name last night and how he had to cast Silencing Charms on Roger's and his bed to keep out the sounds. Sam's face paled drastically when Harry siced Samantha on Sam. Harry couldn't help but smirk at a fleeing Sam, with a very, very embarrassed Samantha chasing him. All in all, it was already a good start to his day.

Harry stomped his way past a couple of whispering Gryffindors, spinning around as two Dungbombs were thrown at him by a chuckling Peeves. It was the day before first term ended, and his day was not, to put in a short way, going well. He had been assigned detention with Professor Robards for "making disrespectful faces to the teacher," was stalked by a couple of other glory-seeking students who wanted to meet the Boy-Who-Lived over the holidays, and had been forcefully impressed into Flitwick's tutoring group on several first year charms.

Harry shook his head and growled. What was even worse was that when he showed a small sign of reluctance, the tiny Professor set up an appointment after his last class to discuss with him about "furthering your academic talent" as well as "forging new friendships that will last a lifetime."

He snorted. Looking on the bright side, he had managed to conjure a small ball of fire and direct it, as well as freeze a small object thanks to his intense practicing over the past months. Harry was slightly disappointed that he had not made much progress, but he reminded himself that he did not have a good book to learn from. He made a mental note to "suggest" a nice birthday present to Remus when he got back.

Harry rounded the corner that led to Flitwick's office, cursing when he remembered that he had to get a present for Remus and Sirius, not to mention Sam, Elan, Roger, and Samantha. He walked up to a small door and knocked once. A squeaky voice said from within, "Come in."

Flitwick was sitting on a high chair, his small hands folded over the desk. His face lit up when he recognized him

"Ah! Mr. Potter! I was expecting you. Please, have a seat."

"Good afternoon Professor."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter. Would you like some tea?"

"No Professor, thank you."

The small Charms professor smiled and said, "I remember that I said to you that I was going to talk about furthering your academic talents, no?"

"And forging new friendships that will last forever also," Harry pointed out with slight sarcasm, so slight that Flitwick did not catch it.

"And that as well, Mr. Potter. I have noticed, that, well, you have become very bored with your classes. I take it that you have been reading _Occulemency: Building the Memory Fortress _by _S.E. Simmons_? It is quite the challenging read, not to mention one would not often see a first year reading that book."

Harry's breath hitched, and his breathing became labored. "Well sir, you see…"

Flitwick waved his hand and said, "It's all right Mr. Potter. Here."

With a flick of his wand, a thick tome was levitated from his desk and deposited itself right into Harry's lap. He read the cover, recovering from his initial shock. The title read _Charms: The Compilation of the Magikal Charms of the World (1400 B.C.E. to 1950 C.E.)_.

"Hopefully this will be subject related, and you may read it _after_ you have completed your classwork, which, of course, should be no problem to you." Flitwick grinned. "So what was this about tutoring and forging new friendships?"

Harry had wholeheartedly agreed to help those struggling with charms in his year.

* * *

The first thing Harry noticed was A black blur headed towards him at a fantastic speed, thudding into him. With an oof, Harry was driven backwards as a large black dog licked his face, excited to see him.

Harry grinned. "Glad to see you to Padfoot."

Remus approached Harry, smiling. "Hey Harry. How's Hogwarts?"

Harry smiled back, scratching the black dog's ears. "It's fine, the usual yelling, screaming, laughing, etc. How is home life?"

Remus broke into a grin. "You wouldn't believe what's happened! Sirius has decided to make a strip club in the shadier areas of Diagon Alley of course, but I have decided to create a clothing shop with Sirius's help of course."

Harry stared blankly at Remus. "Are you kidding?"

Remus laughed, "You actually believed me?"

Harry shook his head, cast a feather-light charm on his trunk, and pulled it behind him.

Remus' eyes widened. His eyes looked frantically around the station, ready to pinpoint the Ministry Owl that was ought to come in at any moment. Harry absent mindedly cast a _Mobilcorpous_ as well, and waited impatiently for Remus to come.

The werewolf's eyes sharpened, for it had been already five minutes, yet the owl had not even come, a very strange occurrence. Harry finally walked over to Remus, asking in annoyance, "What's the goddamn matter Remus? Get your lazy ass over here so we can get out!"

Not even bothering to reprimand Harry for his language, he replied, "That was a fantastic show of a feather-light charm, not to mention that skilled _Mobilcorpous _as well."

Harry's eyebrows shot up in horror. "Oh shit…"

Remus continued, "But however, I have noticed the lack of an owl, so…"

Harry's eyebrows shot even higher with surprise, then narrowed. "Wicked!" he said.

Remus shook his head. "Also, did you hear that James and Lily had a new baby? They didn't even know until this October! Didn't you get a letter?"

Harry shook his head coldly and replied, "I didn't even know until now. Guess I should come over to see the new baby before she becomes as conceited as Adam."

Sirius shook his head sadly and replied, "Perhaps. Perhaps."

Harry turned away coldly and stalked down to King's Cross, preparing to leave for a now looking terrible Winter Break.

Harry arrived at Grimmauld Place, and after bowing and greeting the old Lady Black "properly" as her way to describe it was, Harry went straight to the fireplace and yelled out, "Potter Cottage, Godric's Hallow!"

A whirl of fireplaces later, Harry came to a stop. He waved his wand at his clothes and whispered, "_Purgo_."

His clothes instantly cleaned of the soot, and Harry walked through the already noisy house. He walked into the kitchen where Adam was stuffing himself with chocolate cake and his mother wiping his mouth with a clean napkin, chastising him gently. Harry's stomach clenched as he realized that he would never share the deep love that this family shared. Slowly and firmly, controlling his voice, he asked, "Can I see the baby?"

Lily Potter jerked her head. "Upstairs, your old bedroom," she said tersely. "She's been crying all night, giving me a darn headache. No Adam, not like you. You are always so polite and nice. Don't worry. [Harry tapped his foot impatiently as Lily comforted her other son] Now go Harry. Can't you see I'm busy?"

Harry's fists tightened, but he didn't reply. Quietly he started up the stairs and, following the cries, entered the room.

Inside the room, a newly, beautifully decorated nursery with twinkling stars on the top and safari animals sleeping peacefully in the background enveloped a small crib with loud cries erupting from it. Harry winced at the noise but nevertheless continued, until he saw his sister. She had a full mane of short straight dark red hair, and when she opened her eyes, Harry saw that she shared the same green eyes as he did. Not a brilliant, light green, but darker, more soulful eyes. Harry smiled. Maybe there was still some love left for him in the Potter family after all.

Harry laid a soft hand on her forehead, his cool hand clearing her feverish mind. His sister relaxed, her tense body completely gone. "What's your name, little sis huh?"

Harry looked at the name on the crib. "Juniper…Juniper Potter," he mused. "Not too bad, but it doesn't have a great ring to it. What's the craze about flowers again?"

June had fallen aspleep, her babyish features squished into a cute snore. Harry shook his head, conjured a teddy bear with a name tag labeling "Harry," and placed it next to his baby sister. He then turned away, away to Grimmauld Place, where he could hopefully blow some steam. He smiled with anticipation when he remembered that he could now do magic without being detected. Harry was now thinking it was going to be an excellent Christmas Break.

* * *

On December 25, 1983, Harry Potter was lying on the guest bed at Grimmauld Place, the perfect epitome of blissful sleep…

"MERRY CHRISTMAS CUB!"

"AH SHIT! _Bombarda_!"

Sirius Black was blown across the room, through the door and crashed into Remus who was eating cookies at the kitchen table at a maniacal rate.

Harry rubbed his eyes, summoned his glasses, and looked around at the carnage. He rolled out of bed just in time when his bed exploded into tar and feathers. Harry conjured a physical barrier when he opened the door, and sure enough, a pail of water came tumbling down.

Harry shook his head when he saw Sirius groaning and lying half dead on the table, with cookie mush all over the place. "Merry Christmas, Sirius."

After the extensive clean up was over, Harry was led to a huge Christmas tree. Harry had bought a Muggle prank book as well as the muggle version of Kama Sutra. For Remus, Harry had bought from his meager funds a year's worth of Wolfsbane Potion, which left a hugged Harry without air to breathe; consequently, when Remus finally let go, Harry had nearly collapsed. He was surprised when he found gifts from Sam, Elan, Roger, and Samantha. From Sam, he got a huge bunch of chocolates, ones that were charmed to taste like whatever you liked best with zero sugar. From Elan and Roger, he had gotten a nice set of silver knives for Potions. Remus had immediately left the room when he saw them. Finally, from Samantha, he got a book on famous elementalists. Harry frowned. She must have seen him checking out books on controlling the elements. That wouldn't do.

From Remus, as expected, he got a book on controlling the Fire and Ice elements, thanks to the "suggestion" that Harry made. Harry grinned. He couldn't wait to start to practice. Strangely enough, there was no present from Sirius. Harry turned to him and raised an eyebrow in questioning. Sirius smiled cheerfully, and said, "Well pup, I have a really nice present for you. For the next couple weeks, including weekends at the Shrieking Shack, I have procured an excellent fighting teacher for you. It'll whip you into shape fast, don't worry."

Harry shuddered. Whenever Sirius had that smile, it wasn't anything good that was coming. He followed Sirius as his godfather happily strolled down the hallway into an enormous Hall that Harry never knew was there. It was covered in enormous obstacles, stones, trees, thimbles, that made it into a real life environment. Harry gulped. Whoever his teacher was, he surely knew what he was doing.

"I have told your teacher that you are a prodigy for your age, and you would dearly like to unlock your potential," Sirius said wickedly. "I have also said that you are using a training wand, as for him not to question you. Just wait for him here, he just said he would be a little late."

With that, he turned around, whistling a merry tune, and the two great doors that were the entrance to the hall were shut with an ominous thud.

Harry mused, _I wonder who is teaching me. Hopefully is quite skilled, but will go a little bit easier on me…_

Suddenly, a black blur appeared to his right and a beam of red sped towards him. Even with his nearly inhumanly fast reflexes, he was hit and fell to the ground, his vision blackening.

"_Ennervate_! CONSTANT VIGILANCE POTTER!"

Harry sat up and stared. In front of him, a short stubby man with a bright magical eye, hundreds of scars, and a fake leg was standing in front of him, wand at the ready. It was Mad-Eye Moody. In horror, Harry looked at the man's nose, which was missing a large chunk.

"My nose huh? Rosier got that one with a nasty curse. Black said you are a prodigy. My job is to teach you otherwise. _Bombarda_!"

The bludgeoning curse missed Harry by inches as he threw himself away from the spell.

"Fight back Potter! Or are you too scared?"

Harry growled and flicked out his wand, casting for all as he was worth. His Winter Break was turning out to be really, really, nasty.

Sirius turned a corner, wondering what torture Harry was going under through right now. _Poor Harry_, he thought to himself. Absentmindedly, he summoned Harry's trunk and rifted through it, "making sure" that Harry had not brought back any harmful materials. Frowning, he looked at a small leather covered notebook that simply read, _Calculations_.

When the man opened to the first page, he was astounded. Hundreds of Arithmancy calculations that seemed to, according to Harry's barely comprehensible notes, had something to do with the properties of elemental magic, specifically fire and ice. Stunned, he turned to the next section, this time with Potion ingredients and theories all over the paper. _Snive-Snape must be implanting all of this into him_, Sirius thought to himself. He sighed, and read the top of the paper. The title of it shocked him to the core.

"REMUS!"

With a hurry, the werewolf entered the room, asking, "What the hell is wrong, Sirius?"

The dog Animagus pointed at the immense work. "Read the top, Moony."

Remus did, and collapsed on a nearby armchair. "How?" he asked weakly.

Sirius sighed. "I have no idea how he has done this. An eleven year old doing all of this?"

Remus sighed and pulled the notebook closer to him. "With my basic knowledge of Arithmancy, this actually isn't that advanced. It's just, well, it's a way that no one has ever thought about before. He chose a very long, laborious way instead of using more complex things, because, I guess, he has a very limited knowledge of this." Remus shook his head. "And by the looks of it, both projects were very time consuming, and though by his work he got close to the…revolutionary one, he didn't get the right combination."

"But Remus…If he is this close when he is eleven, this talented and so ambitious, what will happen later? What will happen to Harry's family? What will happen…to us?"

Remus nodded grimly. "That's the question isn't it?"

* * *

Harry Potter had never felt pain such as this. His entire body was covered in cuts, not deep enough to be harmful, but certainly enough to bleed. In the previous six hours that he had been training, not including the dueling time, he had been forced to fight against Moody with a sword. When he first took a look at the wooden sword, Harry had asked Moody if he was joking. Laughing, his brutal instructor replied the affirmative. Then, he had drawn out a real sword. When Harry had heard from Sirius that he was going to be trained in fighting, he had expected to be injured. Have bruises. Welts. Perhaps even a cracked rib or two.

Moody, in their first bout, disarmed him and then drew a thin, elongated gash down the side of his neck. The wound still hurt like hell. And that was six whole hours ago.

Harry had thought, hoped, that the injury was an accident. That hope was quashed very quickly. The young wizard was half dead from the cumulated effects of the wounds the ex-Auror had produced on his body. Moody had been aggressive yet precise with him, and had made him pay for every mistake he made in blood. Once, his footwork had been clumsy. Moody had sketched a bloody line across his calf. Another time the grip on his sabre had been loose. His hellish trainer slashed a seven inch long cut down Harry's arm. Over and over again, the slight errors in his fight were immediately pointed out with an ever slicing sword. This time, his strike overextended by half an inch, and Moody had reciprocated by carving a furrow down his back.

That had been all he could take, and so Harry fell back and landed against the ground in a sitting position with a loud thud.

"Get up," the ex-Auror spoke, not a speck of compassion in his iron voice, "I am not through with you yet."

"I'm bleeding everywhere," he protested, and showed the blood that stained his whole body.

"You haven't bled before?" Moody spoke incredulously. "You will live."

Harry gawked at his trainer. He had expected Moody to be cruel and heartless in his instruction. But this was a level beyond that.

"You can't be serious. I'll be a corpse at this rate."

"Your exaggerations do you no favors, Potter. None of your wounds are fatal."

That, sadly, was true. The myriad of cuts and gashes that leaked blood from his body were all superficial wounds. They broke skin and cut flesh, but left important arteries and organs alone. Nothing a quick _Episkey_ couldn't fix. Still, they hurt. They hurt a lot. And yet Moody refused to allow him to mend them. Added to the exhaustion he felt during the long, drawn-out sparring sessions in which Moody toyed with him, it made him feel completely drained. Harry doubted that he would have the strength left to walk out of the room, let alone walking to the Floo.

"Get up Potter," Harry's trainer said yet again, "Cease from this weakling behavior."

Harry swallowed the curse that had been forming on his lips with great difficulty. Instead, Harry settled for just glaring at his teacher.

"Come at me," Moody growled.

"No!" Harry was surprised at his own refusal. What the Moody asked of him seemed impossible. "I have learned nothing from you! You just can't expect me to match you all of a sudden! I need to learn the stances! The movements! All you're doing is bashing your sword against mine!"

His trainer barked a short, humorless laugh. And then Moody surged forward, his form a blur. Harry had time to roll back up before Moody was upon him. The steel blade crashed down, and Harry felt the weariness in his limbs as his sword rose to deny the entry. Harry grunted at the impact, and the weariness increased tenfold as the ex-Auror matched his unholy strength against Harry's. The two blades locked. His knees gave away.

"You are weak," Moody snarled menacingly into Harry's face, and the sword that his trainer held pressed inhumanly towards his shoulder. "You are no prodigy."

Harry fought with all his strength, all his desperation, but it was a futile struggle.

"You are pathetic Potter," Harry winced as Moody leaned in even closer. The smoldering green eyes glared at her tauntingly.

His sword was touching his own shoulder now, the double-edged blade pressing painfully down against his skin. Harry gritted her teeth as Moody slid his sword down, the grey blade screeching as it grated against Harry's own. At the last second, the ex-Auror flicked his wrist, and the very tip of his sword slipped past Harry's crumbling guard to carve a long gash down his shoulder.

Harry hissed in pain.

"You are _inferior_," before the young wizard could respond, Moody backhanded Harry and sent him tumbling away.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Harry lifted his head from the ground and pawed at his aching cheek, "Why are you doing this!"

"I am training you."

"This isn't training," he spat, "This is Hell."

"You must go through Hell first before tasting Heaven. And believe me when I say this is nothing compared to what I have suffered through."

"Madness," he whispered, "You are insane. Merciless."

"Foolish Potter," the ex-Auror mocked, "Weak and pathetic you already are, yet you still amaze me with your shortsightedness."

Harry stood unsteadily back up, and then dropped back down when Moody's callused fist slammed into his stomach.

"Do you really think that power alone comes from strength? Do you really think that your potential can be learned from some stances and movements, some spells and some charms? Are you really that blind?"

Moody kicked him. His boot lifted Harry off the ground and hurled the young wizard ten feet through the air.

"Forget what your parents, your guardians have taught you," Moody snarled as he stalked towards her, "for they are lies twisted to become truth. Only through blood and pain can you reforge yourself to become stronger, better."

Harry clawed at his fallen blade, wrested from his hand when he had been thrown. Moody stomped down, and harry cried out as his fingers were ground painfully under the ex-Auror's sole.

"For you to become great, you must first know weakness. For you to ignore pain, you must first walk through the fires of agony. For you to win, you must first learn to lose."

Moody released him, and Harry rolled backwards, ever retreating.

"Those are universal truths, Potter. But nearly all refuse to accept it. Our race will not embrace them for fear of the hurt they will cause. But those few who do, shine all the brighter."

Moody flicked Harry's fallen blade towards him with Moody's own. Harry reached for it with trembling hands.

"It is not strength that makes man great. It is not might that makes our race the destined rulers of the stars. It is will! Strength of will! Courage of will!"

Harry grasped the sword, his aching hands clutching the wooden hilt.

"What could our race, spawned as nothing more than the descendants of apes, do if you simply worked together? But instead you fight. You rage. You kill. And for what? Humanity is the brightest star this universe has ever seen, but it is also the scum that the galaxy would wipe from its shoes."

Moody slapped his callused hand against his chest.

Harry ached all over. He bled from dozens of wounds purposely inflicted by the knight. His arms felt like they were on fire.

"Great men become great because they will it! Heroic deeds are done because heroes will it! And believe me when I say, Harry Potter, that you can scale the heights of power, staking your own name into the grains of history, immortalizing yourself forever _if you will it!_"

Moody pointed his massive broadsword at him, its edges cackling with tendrils of magical energy.

"The question is, **do** you will it?"

Harry bit his lip and forced himself up, his legs trembling but resolute, shaky but firm arms brought his sword up over his head, ready to fight once more.

Moody smiled, unnaturally brightening his face.

"I thought so."

And then he charged.

**AN: So that's that. Probably no updates till next week.**

**Love it? Hate it? Pairing Suggestions? REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: No, Harry will not get Hedwig until later, just to answer some people. I'll open a poll for pairings as soon as I get past third year. Just saying, second year I have to spend some time on because I need to think of good ideas.**

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 5

By: Paperfist

Harry cursed and threw himself behind a small rock. Harmful spells zipped near his cover, creating small explosions that threw shards of dirt and sod into his back. It was New Year's Day, and Moody saw fit to celebrate it by having a "New Year's Dueling Festivities." Heck, even Sirius and Remus joined in.

Harry retreated from his position as a well placed _Reducto_ shattered the rock. He returned fire with a couple of curses, and even some darker curses that Moody had drilled into him. Harry ran into the thicker, forest like part of the arena and quickly climbed up to a small observation post that he had spotted earlier. Grudgingly, Harry agreed that Moody's training did in fact help him a lot.

Scampering onto the small hollow at the top of the tree, Harry could see Sirius dueling Moody with and Auror trainee running for his life, Remus close on his tail. Harry growled. Moody even asked Amelia Bones to send some her new recruits to train with him.

Harry spotted a young female Auror with short spiky hair wandering in the center of the forest. He grabbed a nearby vine and swung down at a tremendous speed, his feet smashing into her back and sending her sprawling. "_Stupefy!_"

The female recruit lay still, and Harry went back up to the tree, ready to ambush all that came his way.

However, by this time, Moody had already defeated Sirius, tied up Remus with a silent _Incarcerous_, and had stunned the young trainee Remus had been chasing. Moody scanned around with his magical eye, and, his arms a blur had pulled out his sword and sliced the _Stupefy_ that Harry had sent towards him into two. Harry cursed again. He had forgotten that his trainer could easily slice all spells coming in towards him, not including the Killing Curse, into two harmless parts.

Moody smiled and gave Harry the evil eye. Knowing that it was no use trying to ambush him, Harry snatched the vine next to him, and jumped out, swinging himself far up into the air, and fell gracefully.

Moody flipped backwards and fired a single Bone-Breaker, but had underestimated the speed of which Harry was coming down. The curse soared far over his head and into the distance. Harry fell to the ground, incanting, "Creare navitas unda" to make a small sonic wave when he fell.

The energy wave was nullified when Moody set up a simple Shield charm. Moody grinned evilly, and kept his sword in his rear hand, wand in his forward one. Harry gulped and followed suit. His trainer charged him, firing spells without the necessary wand movements. Harry flipped over the spells with a feline grace, slashing his sword down onto Moody's head. Moody simply cast a banishing charm above him, sending Harry behind him. Harry landed hard, his wand flying out of his hand. Moody quickly summoned it, and placed it in his Summoning Charm repellent wand holster. He, however, did not expect a desperate, concentrated but weak wandless Disarming Charm to hit him, sending Moody's own wand into Harry's outstretched hand.

Harry had barely time to place it in his belt when Moody charged. Harry clashed with him again, parry meeting attack, counterstrikes and thrusts meeting one another. Finally, Moody lost his patience and locked blades with Harry. The young wizard could feel his muscles putting up a valiant fight against Moody's slowly increasing strength. Finally, Harry ended it by a well placed kick into his trainer's chest. Moody growled as he was sent backwards, and with a sudden movement threw his sword at Harry's torso.

Harry had barely any time to move away, and immediately after the sword slightly grazed him, he was thrown with extraordinary force backwards, mercilessly plowed into the ground. Forcing his eyes open, Harry heard a battle cry and saw Moody jumping an enormous distance upwards, a sword pulling itself up from the ground and landing solidly into Moody's hand. Harry's eyes widened and he jumped forwards just as Moody landed on the space where Harry was a second before, Moody's sword impaled deep into the ground.

The young wizard forced himself to concentrate on the fight, and though his arms felt as if they were on fire, Harry rose them up to parry Moody's aggressive strikes. However, Moody locked his blade again with him, and he slid his blade down slowly, Harry knowing that he could do nothing about the oncoming disaster. With a sudden flick Harry was disarmed, his sword flying out of his hand. Moody kicked Harry, the soles of his boot connecting solidly with his chest.

"_Accio wand!_" Moody cried, hand outstretched. The wand on Harry's belt flew towards its master. "_Stupefy!_"

"NO!" Harry shouted, and with all his lonely training, all those hours alone at Hogwarts practicing and trying to make sense of the elements, payed off. A beam of white light emerged from his hand and spat outwards, ice throwing itself directly at the red beam that was heading towards him.

The spell froze. There was nothing at the moment except Harry, the spell, and Moody. Harry gathered his hands back and threw out a ball of celestial fire.

With a resounding crack, Moody was thrown backwards and the fire was splayed around his desperately made shield.

Finally, Moody's gruff voice barked out, "_Impedimenta! Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous! Relashio! Stupefy!_"

Unstoppable beams of differing light locked onto Harry, the spells throwing Harry backwards and through the air…

"_Ennervate! Finite Incantiem!_" a harsh voice barked out.

Harry groaned and sat up, his whole body broken, bruised, and bloodied. Around him, most others were in similar shape.

"Hey pup!" a cheerful voice to his right said. Sirius was smiling happily, a bloody nose, black eye, and multiple cuts on his body gracing his face.

Harry stared at Sirius. His godfather glared back. "What? If you think I look bad, you should take a look at yourself!"

The young wizard winced. Harry knew that he probably looked like a load of shit, but that was probably because Moody defiled his limp, stunned self after nearly being brunt to a crisp. He turned back to Sirius who said, "Moody said that you were the last person alive. That's something to be proud of. I got hit by his nasty Bludgeoning curse and doubled over. From there I was full Body Bound. Sounds fun doesn't it? How did you die?"

Harry winced. "I think Moody got carried away a little bit. Last thing I knew was that he had sent at least half a dozen spells at me. Must've been a little…pissed."

Sirius laughed. "Don't worry about that. He's always like that."

The two turned their attention to the front of the room, where Moody began to speak. "Congratulations on attending the 15th Annual New Year's Dueling Festivities at Grimmauld Place. In first place is Alastor Moody, 15th in a row Champion of the Dueling Festivities. In second place is Harry Potter, brother of the Boy Who Lived. In third place is…"

Harry rolled his eyes when a bunch of awe-struck idiots began to ask for autographs. Why the fuck would Moody even need to say that he was Harry Potter. Couldn't he have said Harry Black, or even, God save him, Harry Weasley.

After Moody's long and boring monologue, the large group left, most still asking for autographs. Moody motioned Harry to come towards him. When the young wizard approached him, Moody smiled an actual genuine smile and said, "Nice job today Potter. You nearly beat me, though more by surprise than actual skill. Still, that's something that you can brag about later in your life. How is your Animagus transformation going?"

"Fine thank you sir. That's one of the reasons why I was able to evade your strikes for so long. It really has helped."

"I would've expected you to become a stag like your father."

Harry's expression turned cold at that, and Moody quickly dropped the subject. "Anyways, congratulations Potter. I'll give you a nice goodbye lesson tomorrow, cause I won't be seeing you till next weekend." Moody gave a predatory smile. "Don't worry, I guarantee that you'll have fun."

Quickly Harry said his goodbye and thanks before hurriedly exiting the room and rushing past the group of hopeful autograph takers.

Harry trudged up the stairs to the shower and collapsed on his bed afterwards, remembering that he had to return to school tomorrow and that, even though Break was over, he would have to train with Moody on weekends. The return to Hogwarts was already turning out to be very, very gloomy.

* * *

Harry trudged up the stairs leading to the Ravenclaw dorms, so tired from Moody's "Goodbye Lesson" that he was in no particular mood to talk. Behind him, Sam and Roger were catching up on the events and chattering excitedly about the coming up Quidditch Match. Harry, in the mean time, was thinking about what Moody had said earlier at their first lesson. _Great men become great because they will it! Heroic deeds are done because heroes will it! And believe me when I say, Harry Potter, that__ you can scale the heights of power, staking your own name into the grains of history, immortalizing yourself forever__if you will it_. Harry shook his head and again prepared himself for the classes tomorrow, preparing to take a Dreamless Sleep potion before heading to bed.

When he woke up at 3 AM, Harry's senses sharpened immediately. Quietly and softly, he transformed his hands and feet becoming furry claws, eyes slitting yet retaining their eerie color, body shrinking yet keeping its lithe and muscular form.

Harry, now a snow leopard, prowled into the dark halls of Hogwarts, exploring each nook and cranny. He exited the castle and, making sure that no one was there watching him, ran off into the Forbidden Forest.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the dark as he jumped nimbly between brambles and tree trunks. Sniffing, Harry could detect the slight scent of Acromantula silk to his left, and wisely chose not to go in that direction. He slowly entered a small clearing where there was a small lake, clear skies, a small cave on one end of the clearing and overhanging branches that reached nearly halfway across the clearing. Harry immediately knew that this could be his own private place.

Transforming slowly into his human form, he began to work at converting his hideout into something he wanted it to be. First, he created a magical detection bubble that notified Harry of all animals that traversed near the place. Next, he managed craft a large wooden wall using the natural materials around him, which took nearly an hour and took a large chunk of his energy. He stopped to rest for a few minutes and admired his handwork.

After he slightly recuperated, he left a simple rune on each panel of the wall that would cause a mild electric shock if touched or tried to be bypassed. After completing this task, it was rapidly approaching the beginning of dawn. Sighing, Harry transformed back into his form and padded quietly back. Unknown to him, a yellow pair of highly intelligent eyes watched him as he traveled back to the castle.

_Heeeee hassss comeeeeee._

Harry pawed slowly back to the castle, ducking behind a tapestry when Peeves flew by and slowly continuing to the Great Hall. He quickly changed back into his human form and walked tiredly towards the Ravenclaw Table. He nodded hello to Elan and Samantha who both came over soon after.

"Hey Harry."

"Hello Elan, Samantha."

"Why the long, tired face?" Elan asked, curious eyes wiggling.

Harry snorted. And sat back, completely drained.

Cedric came in, his normally kindly face contorted in anger. Harry glanced at Cedric and asked, "What happened?"

Samantha and Elan quickly followed suit. Cedric responded tightly, "Nothing, thanks."

Harry's eyes narrowing, he glanced around the Hall, spotting Zacharias Smith pointing his finger at the small group and laughing with his goons. Harry, despite being sore and tired, decided to do his annual New Year's good deed and walked over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey, look, it's the Boy Who Lived!" said Zacharias mockingly. "Oh oops, I forgot. It's the _insignificant_ Potter. How's the near bankrupt Diggory friend of yours? Gone to work to pay of his family's debt? I'm _so_ sorry."

Harry said coolly, "I'll give you three chances Smith. Don't insult my friends. There goes one chance."

Zacharias sneered, "I won't listen to a poor, not worthy of love son of a Mudblood. I bet your parents dumped you the day after the Dark Lord died, completely forgetting of your existence."

Harry's jaw involuntarily tightened, and his fingernails nearly drew blood from his palm.

Zacharias, sensing that he had struck a nerve, continued. "Nobody cares about your shitty person in this entire planet. No matter how hard you try, no one will ever give two Knuts about you. You are worthless. You are _trash_."

A wave of magical energy knocked him straight from his seat and out into a wall. Wind slowly began to pick up speed around Harry, blowing cutlery, food, and silverware clean off the table. The Hufflepuffs near him began to shrink away. If one looked closely at Harry, they would see that his eyes had turned from a deep dark green to a sickly yellow.

Harry's wand was out in a second and he cast a powerful _Bombarda_. The part of the Hufflepuff table in front of him was blasted into wreckage, shards of wood flying far out. At the head table, Dumbledore stood up, ready to intervene.

Harry lifted his arm and whipped his wand down, a powerful Banishing Charm blowing away Zacharias' goons as if they were nothing but ants in a gale. Harry walked up to a desperately trying to cast Zacharias. A simple, pitiful Stinging Hex is simply deflected back at him, hitting the Hufflepuff in the face which caused him to cry out. Harry grabbed Zacharias by the collar and shoved him backwards, the Elder Wand at his cheek.

"Do not be so foolish with your words in the future, especially with those far more powerful than you are. Don't be so sure that your father's name and influence will be able to protect you from **me**. Be glad that Dumbledore is watching, Smith, or normally I would not be so merciful. I would like to leave you with a parting thought, but you would have no place to put it." Zacharias snarled at the insult, but quickly shut up and whimpered as Harry's wand pressed even deeper into his cheek.

"LET HIM GO, MR. POTTER!"

Harry turned towards the Headmaster, his face, to the wizened wizard's great shock, appearing old and saddened. "As you wish, Professor Dumbledore."

With that, Harry left the Great Hall, heading for his first class and ignoring the stares that he received from Professor and student alike.

To Harry's great relief, none of his friends talked about the incident afterwards. However, he became the object of speculation in nearly all his classes, Slytherins, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs eyeing him distrustfully. Potions was bad especially, the Hufflepuffs glaring at Harry, whether from destroying their table or nearly killing one of their Housemates Harry was not sure. The only good thing was that Professor Snape was much more vicious on Zacharias than usual, yet stared at Harry whenever the Professor thought that he wasn't looking. Harry filed the information away for later use.

Cedric had come up to him after Potions and said quiveringly, "Thanks...thanks Harry. It…means a lot to me."

The young Hufflepuff had ran off bawling afterwards, leaving the other Hufflepuffs shooting him murderous looks for making another Housemate cry.

Harry contemplated Zacharias' words. He had said something about the Diggorys being in debt. He nodded knowingly. The Diggorys were an old pureblood line, but they were never very rich in the first place. He resolved to ask Cedric about it at a more stable time.

After completing his ridiculously easy Charms classwork, to both Sam's and Roger's chagrin, he had begun to read Flitwick's book. It was a very interesting read, and he saw Flitwick smiling towards himself on more than one occasion. Harry shuddered. He hoped that Flitwick wouldn't start holding a Slug Club for his Charms students. He had heard infamous stories from both Sirius and Remus on how his mother had gone to them with "Snivellus." Harry rolled his eyes. The feud was so old that Harry had begun to think it was enormously stupid.

In his free time after classes, Harry holed himself up in his dorms, practicing his elemental skills while finishing his HW and sometimes going up alone to the Astronomy Tower to look down on the beautiful scenery.

He saw Cedric walk by himself on the grounds, so he quickly summoned a broom and rode down to him. The Hufflepuff turned around, wand at the ready, but he relaxed when he realized it was Harry.

"Hey Cedric."

"Hi Harry."

The two boys walked in compatible silence for a moment, before Harry's curiosity got the better of him and he asked, "I heard Smith say something about your family debt." Seeing Cedric hesitate, he said quickly, "I mean, if you don't want to say anything, I'm alright with that. I don't want to sound pushy or anything, but you know…"

Cedric wiped tears from his eyes. "Naa, it's ok. It's just…" he shuddered. "My dad always ran a business you know, but he has to rent a store and all. And Smith's dad owns the store, and we got in debt. Now he makes good money, but he can't repay the debt because the interest the elder smith puts on his so high. So now we are still 700 Galleons in debt."

Harry nodded understandingly and replied, "Don't worry Cedric. You'll get out of this."

Cedric gave Harry a shaky smile and started up the path to the castle. Harry thought about Cedric's predicament when suddenly an idea came to him. He flew on his broom at top speed towards the Astronomy Tower and banished his broom all the way back to the storage area. He then quickly raced down the levels of Hogwarts, heading straight to the Dungeons. Quickly, he rounded a corner and wheeled straight into Professor Snape's office.

"Potter! What do you want?"

Harry took a deep breath and said, "Well, Professor, one of my friends is in a great predicament…"

Harry went to his detention with Predator Robards (as both Sam and Roger had started calling him) quite happily, not even caring that his "crime" was "making indecent faces at figures of authority." he noticed a pretty female fifth year Gryffindor prefect rush out of his classroom with her eyes streaming with tears. Harry shrugged it off and entered the classroom, steeling himself for two solid hours of hell.

* * *

It was the second to last day of term, and Harry Potter was feeling just fantastic. Everything was going just the right way, his elemental skills slowly improving, and his hideout nearly complete. Not to mention that with the combined money pot with his money for making potions for Professor Snape, helping Flitwick grade first year papers, and the money from Roger, Sam, Elan, and Samantha. He had aced all his exams with little difficulty, and was recommended by Madame Hooch to be on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team next year. Things in the summer were already looking up.

However, he still had to go to detention with the Predator Robards. That completely spoiled his day. He growled as he stomped towards the classroom, but suddenly stopped as he heard a person crying and screaming. Flicking his wand into his hand, he wheeled around to face the door and cried out "_Reducto!_"

The door smashed open, and very visibly on the desk, Professor Robards was holding a whipped and bruised girl and preparing to impale his less than impressive erection into her arse.

That was enough to make Harry see red.

The Defense Professor, though taken aback, quickly cast, "_Obliviate!_"

The Memory Charm zipped through the air, only to be blocked by Harry's wand. The young wizard glared, then charged Robards.

"YOU FUCKING RAPIST, PEDOPHILE! YOU DESERVE DEATH! _REDUCTO! CONFRIGENT OSSA! DIFFINDO!"_

The Professor was knocked back by the blasting curse, only to be hit by a Bone-Breaker right afterwards. The Cutting Curse sliced a gash in his chest. But Harry was not done.

"_Castrare!_"

Robards screamed as he was castrated painfully, Harry standing over him. "BASTARD!"

Harry opened his palm, and a host of large ice spikes impaled themselves into the Defense Professor's knees and arms. He was about to continue a magnified voice cried out, "STOP!"

The young wizard cleared his head from the blood lust and looked behind him. Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had their wands out and looked ready to kill.

"We will handle this from here. Thank you for incapacitating him. 40 points to Ravenclaw."

Harry nodded and turned away. He hoped that Robards would pay for raping probably many of his students. And when Harry caught up with him, he would regret the day he set hungry eyes on his students. He would pay.

At the feast, Ravenclaw won the House Cup thanks to Harry's extra points, but there was no mention of the disappearance of the old Defense Professor. On the train ride home, Harry had presented the huge bag of gold to Cedric, who could barely believe what his friends had done for him.

Now, as Harry walked off the train, he felt that everything had changed from the beginning of the year. From his friendships, to academics, to improving relations between Sirius and Snape, and working a job. Even Sam had gotten a little smarter.

Beside him, Sam slipped on a banana peel and fell right on Samantha's lap, who screeched and pushed him accidentally into the train track. He fell with an oof, not to mention when the train was about to depart for Hogsmeade. The Weasley twins were laughing their heads off, and it was only due to the Auror's multiple _Reductos _that they were able to stop the train.

Harry sighed. Perhaps some things never changed.

**AN: Love it? Hate it? Review**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: This year will be a very, very hard write for me mostly because there is not much action in this year. The only really new thing is Qudditch, so I will write the entire expanse of second year in 2 chapters. There probably be less updates for a while, cuz a random dumbass is starting to spread a bunch of half-truths throughout the net, school, etc. So, while I sort out this goddamn mess, I'll have to update a little less often than usual. Sorry about the last chapter, it was lower quality than usual. **

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 6

By: Paperfist

The large King Acromantula, Aragog, was sick of wizards.

For 30 long years since his separation with Hagrid, he had brooded. Waited. Hungered for revenge. And for those 30 long years he had breed an enormous army of his kin, slowly and slowly growing.

For thirty long years he had suffered the torments of the centaurs, the unicorns, and most of all, the wizards themselves.

Aragog snarled at the thought of those insufferable creatures. Abominations that deserved to be wiped off the face of the earth. Perhaps only Hagrid deserved to live, for treating him kindly and never actually beating him or blaming his expulsion on him.

But even Hagrid hadn't visited for a week. Aragog shook his head sadly. If Hagrid sided with the defenders of Hogwarts, then he had to go to.

The King Acromantula focused his thoughts elsewhere. He traveled to the small clearing that, according to his watchmen, a small young wizard had claimed as his own. For the past month, the spiders had laid siege to the wall that surrounded the area.

In the first charge, in a frenzy that a wizard would dare take their land, the spiders had rushed forward, only to be repulsed by a banishing charm that sent the whole wave flying madly in the air, crushing one another in a mass of flesh, hair, and poison.

From then on, the Acomantulas had advanced much more cautiously. The King knew that he was running out of time, for soon, the school would be full and the person would most undoubtly come into the woods again. Aragog wore a beatific smile on his face. _Soon, the trespasser of our woods will be destroyed. I might even let my more sadistic spiders torture him first._

Aragog turned himself around before he could see another spider go fly high into the starry sky and crush an unlucky observer. Pity that the wards on the walls didn't seem to be weakening at all.

When he arrived at the path leading to the cliffs, his scheming mind never growing tired, Aragog reformulated his plan to massacre those that had defiled his people over and over again.

Oh, those in the castle would regret the day that they had ever threatened him, and he already began to imagine the entire world fall to him, the horde of Emperor Aragog destroying the filth of Wizardingkind forever.

_That day would come soon_, Aragog thought to himself. He scampered to the top of a bluff overlooking the Castle. _Soon._

* * *

Harry Potter, to say in the least, was very pissed off. He had just been hanging around at the zoo for the first time _ever_, trying to look at a bunch of exotic animals, and when trying to free a little coral snake that appeared to want to leave the place, he had accidentally begun a nice conversation. Not with Sirius nor Remus, but with a goddamn snake.

_Bye little coral sssnake. I do hope you get back to where you belong,_ Harry said softly. Silently mumbling under his breath, he breathed, _As if I have a place where I belong._

The snake had whirled around in surprise. _You sssspeak, wizard?_

Harry frowned. _What do you mean by ssspeak? I'm talking in English, aren't I. You are the one that'sss ssspeaking._

_Foolish human. _The snake literally shook its head. _We are ssspeaking Parssseltongue, the noble language of the sssnakesss. Why does such a powerful young wizard like you not know of us?_

Harry couldn't produce a response. He could speak _Parseltongue?_

Finally regaining his voice, and realizing the snake was about to leave, he voiced back, _Good-bye sssnake. May we meet again in the future, and not in the sssame place as today._

The snake made a chuckling noise. _I should hope not._

With that, the tiny coral snake had slithered out to the exit of the Reptile House, past two still figures, and out into the sunlight.

Next to the entranced, the shocked forms of Sirius and Remus were stone still, eyes slowly moving back and forth from Harry to the empty cage. Remus, still shell-shocked, stuttered, "Did you r-r-really j-j-ust…"

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "If you guys dare tell a soul, I promise to you that I will _Obliviate _you both and instead fill in the memories of you two falling deeply and solidly in love with one another. Not to mention that I will make sure your manly bits will become womanly bits."

With a flick of his wand, two straight rods of wood flew from the pockets of both Sirius and Remus and into the outstretched hand of Harry. "Understood?"

Both men nodded and gulped. "Understood."

Harry sighed and tossed the two wands carelessly back at the two men. "C'mon guys. I still want to see those pandas before we get back to Grimmauld Place. With that, the young wizard stalked out of the room and into the sun.

When he got home with Sirius—Remus had said he wanted to go to a shady shop in Knockturn Alley first—Harry went straight up to the guest bedroom and began to take out his stress on Moody's birthday present, called the Indestructible Dummy 2.0 (with all new features like a Protego shield, a Levitis Rune, and Repulsing Ward). Sadly, Moody couldn't find anything else that was stronger than that, and in less than an hour, parts of the dummy had been burnt to a crisp, frozen so much that one could feel the cold within 8 feet of it, slashed at, chopped up, dented, charred, and some still even burning.

Harry was not happy that the dummy had been destroyed so easily, but he couldn't blame Moody. He placed the head of his defeated quarry alongside the heads of his previous training dummies and left his room, not bothering to clean up the mess. When he came downstairs, he immediately nodded his head in thanks at Sirius, who had made a delicious to-go spaghetti dinner. Harry grimaced. Though the combo of Kreacher's and Sirius's cooking skills were way more than enough, it pained him to not sit with his family to eat.

He sighed, hugged Sirius good-bye, and stepped towards the Floo. "Potter Cottage, Godric's Hallow!"

Without missing a beat, he strolled through the small house and upstairs towards his room. He stopped at June's room, and walked in.

His small sister was lying there, asleep and clutching Harry's conjured teddy bear, but the smell of spaghetti soon made her wrinkle her nose and sit up. Harry smiled as she reached for the spaghetti, and he conjured a spoon and began to feed her small bits of the food.

June, finally looking up at her older brother with her soulful green eyes, asked softly, "Hawwy?"

The young wizard shot up in great shock, nearly knocking over the spaghetti.

"Hawwy?"

Harry willed his eyes not to blur. Maybe someone in his family did care about him after all.

"Yeah," he said, his voice hoarse. "I'm here."

When he arrived back at his room to finish his meal, he spotted a small book and a note lying on top of it.

_Hey Harry,_

_This is Remus. After I learned of your new…ability and after you threatened to hex our balls off, I decided to pick you up a little something at Knockturn Alley._

_Using Sirius's money, I bought something that will be worth your time to read and comprehend. It will also help take a lot of the, according to you, "boring" summer time until you get to go back to Hogwarts. I do believe you can easily make a lot of progress with your Parsel ability before you get back to school._

_Because you have a lack of a good pet, I have decide to—in order to pay you bback for the Wolfsbane Potion—buy you a nice snow white High Eagle owl. Her name is Hedwig, and she is quite the vicious animal. It wasn't until I showed her a picture of her new master that she finally calmed down a bit. Funny, isn't it? Maybe you two were destined to be together. (Get it?) _[Harry rolled his eyes at Remus's corny joke.]

_Anyways, without further ado, I will let you open the thing I bought you today so you can get started. I know that you will not stop getting your goddamn nose out of that book until you have finished it. Whatever._

_Moony_

_P.S. I will give you Hedwig for your school supply shopping spree. Don't worry, I have already reserved her, so she won't be bought by another._

Harry smiled with happiness. Thank god that he still had Sirius and Remus. Storing the letter in his records, he tore the covering of the wrapped package that Remus had got him

He pulled off the last bit of packaging and his jaw dropped in awe as he saw the title, and more importantly, its author.

_The Art of Parsel_ by _Salazar Slytherin._

_No way…_, Harry thought.

* * *

The next morning, after prowling around the neighborhood in his leopard form, he went back in to eat a quick breakfast and begin to practice his Parsel Magic.

Harry noticed with interest that most Parsel Magic had a lot to do with healing, runes, wards, and defensive magic. In fact, the closest thing to "dark" magic in Parseltongue, according to Slytherin, was blood magic.

The chapter that he was interested in was healing, mostly because Harry knew he had to build up some revenue before he could have an impact on the Wizarding World.

That very morning, Harry managed to heal a bruise on his shoulder that Adam was responsible, flying on his Nimbus 1500, had hit him at a speed of 50 km/hour claiming that Harry was grabbing onto his broom.

In Parseltongue, Harry had incanted, _Let the broken blood vessels reheal and reseal, let the dark swelling of the skin begone and the pain no more._

When he was finished, Harry was noticeably drained, yet the entire bruise had been reduced to nothingness. With a frown, Harry realized that the Parsel healing ritual was actually quite lengthy. He hoped that he could find a shorter way to do all of this, or, if such a way did not exist, _create_ one.

In the next few weeks, Harry improved dramatically in both Parseltongue and dueling, thanks to Moody's rigorous training. In the Britain Dueling Summerfest, the entire Auror Department, regular contestants, Harry, and Moody had attempted to eliminate each other in 10 huge contests.

Needless to say, Moody won them all, though Harry did get quite far into the dueling festivities. He had been pleasantly surprised to see that Elan and Roger—using training wands of course—did participate, though they were slaughtered ruthlessly by the others.

In one climatic duel, Moody and Madame Bones dueled one another to a standstill until Sirius, who had dug a hole right underneath the Head of his Department, exploded upwards.

Though a triumphant Sirius stood over his unconscious boss, he was too late to block the Stunning Spell sent from Moody that sent the Animagus flying.

As the summer months waned and the preparations for school began once more, Harry was still burying his head in dozens of books inside the extensive Black Library. Oftentimes, Sirius had to Summon Harry into the kitchen to force feed him.

The time for shopping came, and again, Sirius made a hefty withdrawal (from Harry's perspective) from his family account.

And of course, being Harry, he spent the entire amount in less than five hours.

Wandlessly summoning Harry's enormous mound of receipts, Remus caught a glimpse of books like, _Killing Magical Animals_, _Powercasting_, _Knife Handling_, items like, _Gold Cauldron_, _Complete Set of Silver Knives_, and _Magical 15-Compartment Trunk_ amongst other things before it was ripped out of his hands by a powerful Summoning Charm.

Wisely, Remus chose not to comment on any of the things that his godson had bought. Instead, he took out a beautiful snow white owl that was trying to nip at him and gave the cage to Harry.

"Here you go, pup. That's Hedwig. A little monster isn't she? I mean…"

The werewolf stopped cold when he saw the icy glare that the owl gave him. Harry smirked at him, opened the cage, and said, "Go get him."

The High Eagle owl snatched and scratched at the hapless man before Harry took pity on him and ordered Hedwig onto her shoulder. The young wizard went up to the man and said softly, "Thanks Moony."

Remus smiled back. "That's for the batch of Wolfsbane you got me. Haven't felt better for years."

They were interrupted by Sirius, who was approaching them and was carrying a large black trash bag that he was trying to hide behind his back.

Harry raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you trying to open your bowels and release some undoubtly nasty matter or what?"

Sirius grinned. "Actually, I am."

Harry's raised eyebrow didn't go up any further. "Sure."

"C'mon. I know you're just jealous." Sirius's face suddenly turned more serious. "In light of your second year, and knowing how much you want to play Quidditch this year, I have decided to…"

Harry's eyes widened, his hopes went to the high heavens, one of his dreams finally coming true…

"Give you an antique Shooting Star!"

Harry's face fell. The Shooting Star was from the goddamn 50's! Why in God's name would Sirius…

"No, pup. I was talking to Remus. He's still in second year. Didn't you know that?" Sirius dodged a playful punch from the werewolf. " I have decided to give _you_, Harry, on the other hand, a Nimbus 1500!"

With a flourish, he produced the broomstick from the trash bag, leaving Harry to survey his new broom.

The wood was made from a toned maghony, the warm brown of the broomstick nicely matching with Harry's tan, golden skin. On the side, the gold lettering _Nimbus 1500_ was inscripted into the side. The bristles of the broom were neat and glossy, giving of a professional look.

"Si-Siri-Sirius…"

Sirius smiled. "It's fine pup. I just want you to help prove yourself. Who knows? Maybe you will qualify for the World Cup team at a record age! Who knows?"

Harry resolved to do just that.

Harry strolled into King's Cross Station, alone this time for Sirius had to go to work, Remus was recovering from his transformation, and his "loving" parents were too busy with Adam to even speak a regular good bye.

_Assholes_, he thought to himself. He grimaced when the Weasley Twins tried to pelt him with extra small Dungbombs, only for them to miss and hit innocent Muggle passer Byers.

Sighing, the young wizard crossed through the barrier and out into the open station, the huge red and gold colors of the Hogwarts Express near blinding him. Blinking quickly, he saw Elan, Roger, and Sam chattering around the entrance to the train.

He walked over to them, and when the trio spotted him, they waved hello.

"Who's owl is that?" Sam inquired, curious.

Harry smirked and replied, "My own, moron."

"But it's a High Eagle Owl!" Elan cried.

"Jealous?"

The Malfoy heir grumbled a bit and dodged a weeping Narcissa Malfoy as she attempted to draw him into a hug. Roger began to laugh along with Harry, but he froze when his mother Grace caught him in a tight embrace.

Sam and Harry turned their heads respectfully away from the "private" moment and saw Samantha walking towards them, her family towed behind her.

"Hey Samantha, my one and only lo-Oof!" Sam stopped short when Samantha gave him a hard elbow to the ribs. "I was only kidding around Sammy!"

"DON'T CALL ME SAMMY!"

Luckily for Sam, Cedric, just arriving and ever being the Hufflepuff, managed to break up the fight as Samantha couldn't muster the will to beat up her gentle friend.

Harry shook his head and asked a gasping-for-breath Elan (as Roger was still being crushed) "Did you get a broom for this year?"

Elan, smiling, replied, "I got an awesome Nimbus 1300! It's one of the best broom on the market, but I bought it early before the Nimbus 1500 came out…" His voice trailed off sadly.

Harry's mouth widened into a large smile. "I'm _sooo _sorry about that Elan. Look what I've got here…"

Opening a black trash bag, he pulled out a broom just far enough so that the Pureblood could see the words _Nimbus 1500_.

Sadly, Elan's younger brother Draco saw it too and began to literally rape Harry trying to get a good look at the broom.

Consequently, the others around him noticed and tried to get a look, leading to others around them to take a look, and pretty soon a rabid group of Quidditch fans were begging Harry for a chance to see the new broom.

When Harry finally dug his way out of the mass, he traveled to a far away compartment and reserved it. Soon after, his friends tumbled in, and Harry flicked his wand, locking the door with magic.

"So what position are you trying out for, Harry?" Roger asked.

"Maybe Chaser, it sounds cool. Seeker is too limited and doesn't require any skill, so posh that. Keeper, I suck at, and can you imagine _me_ being a Beater?"

Cedric said, "But the Seeker almost always decides the game, and the game ends when the Snitch is caught, so…" The Hufflepuff blushed as the attention was directed on him. "I want to play Seeker, just to put my two Knuts in."

Harry shrugged. "That's ok. But I'm trying out for Chaser."

"So am I!" Roger said enthusiastically.

Elan joined in, "And me!"

Harry asked Sam, "Are you going to try out for Quidditch?"

The Greengrass heir replied, "Well…I want to try out being a Keeper, cuz people say that I'm good as a Muggle football keeper…"

Harry again asked, "You play football?"

"Yeah."

"What's football?" asked Elan.

So the five of them began a long, lengthy, and serious conversation about the similarities of football and Quidditch, though Harry opted out in the middle to read _Killing Magical Animals_ by _Johanes "Monsta-Killa- Jones_.

* * *

The long speech of Dumbledore seemed to be even longer this year, with aging Headmaster warning all that large spiders had been prowling the outside of the Forbidden Forest, and although harmless, could mistake a young human just outside of their territory as an intruder.

Harry had literally slept through the Sorting, though Sam beside him had tried at times to rouse him. The only thing that perked him up slightly was the arrival of a slight man in black, though he was so bored that he barely raised his head to look at the new probable teacher.

"And since Professor Robards has been arrested by the Ministry last June, I would like introduce your new Defense Professor, Mr. Yamato Hiri-san!"

A small Japanese man, with a sword across his back—which interested Harry—stood up from the Head Table and bowed to a politely applauding audience. He had black, graying hair, a small mustache and beard, and was dressed in a black robe.

He then sat back, his eye catching Harry's own, and giving the second-year a small nod. Harry was so intrigued that he nearly missed the Headmaster say, "Now, eat up!"

Sam stuffed himself silly, looked up, and asked, "What do you think of the new Defense Professor this year?"

Harry replied, "It looks as if he has some experience; that is, if the sword across his back is to say anything."

With that, he turned his back to the new Professor, though he could feel the man's eyes on his back the whole time.

When it was finally time to go to bed, Harry realized that he couldn't go to sleep. There was just so much to do, so much to learn. Taking a quick draught of Dreamless Sleep to combat the memory overload, he let himself slide slowly into the finally peaceful land of sleep.

When he reawaked, it was before dawn. A quick check of his nearby alarm clock revealed that it was 2:00 in the morning. Silently changing his clothes, he soon morphed into his snow leopard form, stalking past the boy's security door and out into the dark of Hogwarts.

He left the castle, not realizing that a raven watched him silently in the early morning. Harry pawed at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and after making sure no one was watching him, threw caution to the wind and entered the forest.

Inside the mist, Harry's wet nose could detect thousands of smells, from centaur hair, to unicorn piss, and more alarmingly, Acromantula silk. Cautiously, he headed towards his hideout. The startling caw of a raven above him caused the young wizard to drop into a defensive position, but he soon moved on.

After many nerve racking encounters, he entered his private second home, ready to begin. He transformed back into his human form and began to clean up the area.

* * *

Yamato Hiri-san watched the young boy from his perch far above him. The boy was very talented—that was very obvious—but he was afraid to unleash his full potential. When he saw him back at the Great Hall, he had been surprised to encounter a sophisticated Occulemency shield, powerful enough to withstand more than a few mental attacks at once.

Now, the young boy had transfigured a crude dummy which cast Stunning spells at an enormous speed. Without missing a beat, he began to dodge the lightning fast magic.

Slowly, the dummy began to pick up the pace, and the boy began to fight back. From his wand a powerful Cutting Curse erupted forth, only to meet a strong Shield Charm that deflected the spell.

Back and forth, spells flew so fast that it became hard to see the actual fight. The dummy never relented, weaving its wooden body back and forth, and began to cast actual dark curses.

However, the boy never faltered, and from his hand, ice came forward and froze each of the spells in place. Waving his wand, the icicles sharpened and a barrage of these ice arrows rained down on the hapless dummy, several of them penetrating the shield that it had conjured.

Finally, the young wizard ducked beneath a bunch of ropes, whirled around a dark Cutting Curse, flipped over a torture spell, and flicked his wand. A whip of dark matter sliced through the three different Shielding Charms the dummy had cast and severed its head with a single yank.

The dummy fell. Yamato could see the boy was slightly winded, so he waited. After a while, the boy went over to the dummy and rebuilt it with magic, though this time the dummy came with a sword. _This is going to be interesting_, Yamato thought to himself.

The boy called a branch to his hand and transfigured it into a sword. Raising it over his head in a Form II opening stance, he clashed with the dummy. This time, Yamato could see that the exertion was clear on his face as the boy deflected the powerful cuts his opponent was using.

The dummy was using a brutal hacking style, relying less on finesse and more on hammering on an opponent's defense. It was crude, but at least partially working as the boy's guard slowly began to falter.

However, after a brilliant feint on the boy's part, his sword swept past the dummy's guard and sliced off one its arms. Leaping over the dummy as it gave a vicious kick, the boy swept the sword over his head and decapitated the dummy. He landed lightly on his feet, stabbing his sword into the ground.

_Now_, Yamato thought to himself. _Is the time to act._

* * *

Pushing himself off the branch, he swept down towards the boy, sword ready to strike a deadly blow.

Harry heard the whistle of air rushing down, but, that was his only warning. He flipped himself backwards before a figure in black impaled his sword into the ground. The young wizard raised his hand and called his own sword back into his hand, and, wasting no time, attacked viciously.

His opponent fell back into a defensive stance, and, to Harry's curiosity, deflected his own attacks, not block them. Driving those thoughts from his head, he began to incorporate magic into his fast blows. He swung his sword in a horizontal slash, then, with his momentum, swung his foot into a heel kick.

The kick could knock out a fully grown man if it in the solar plexus and smash in the ribcage, but that was if it connected. Harry cursed as his combatant quickly leaped over his foot and blasted him with a wandless Banishing Charm.

Harry held his sword out in front of him, and the Charm was sliced in half as he poured magical energy into the blade. Thinking quickly, he let out a burst of blue flame that caught onto his sword and charged, thinking to scare the shit out of the black figure.

His combatant simply cast a wave of water that extinguished the blade and sent Harry backwards a couple of feet.

Desperately, the young wizard conjured dozens of razor sharp icicles and launched them at the man. He charged behind the volley.

Without seemingly trying hard, the black figure moved faster than ever, dodging _all_ of the ice spikes and deflecting all of Harry's attacks. When Harry got sufficiently tired, he went on the offensive.

With his last ounces of strength, Harry blocked a powerful overhand strike, and in a last desperate bid to win, dropped his sword and lashed out with his wand.

The dark whip that he had used against the dummy emerged and he managed to snap his opponent's sword out of his hand.

Chuckling, his adversary summoned Harry's own sword, and, knocking aside Harry's wand, pointed the sword at him—hilt first.

Harry, shocked, couldn't bring himself to grasp the blade. "Who are you?"

"Your wandwork is most excellent, soon to be student of mine," said a Japanese accented voice. He pulled back his hood to reveal an hardened face with a kindly smile. "But your bladework has lots of holes. Good morning, young student. I am your new Defense Professor, Yamato Hiri-san."

* * *

**AN: Will probably not update for a while. I need to revise the whole story. Don't be worried. REVIEW!**


	7. Chapter 7

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 7

By: Paperfist

"On your brooms!"

Harry grimaced as he gripped his _Cleansweep 500_ tightly, the handle bumping against a nice bruise that he had received a day before.

Hell, that Professor Yamato could hit really hard. Not to mention the additional bruises, cuts, lacerations, and other injuries that he had received yesterday from his vicious Professor.

Of course, this had to come right before Quidditch tryouts for Ravenclaw.

"Listen to me, Ravenclaws! The reason why you are all using a school broom is so that all of you have an equal chance, so stop grumbling and LISTEN. When I fire a flare spell from my wand, I want all of you to race 5 laps around the pitch. Understood?"

After a chorus of the affirmative, the team captain stepped back and sent a red flare from her wand.

With a bang, Harry was off, accelerating slowly. However, his excellent flying skills made more than enough for his disadvantage, and he was soon in the front. However, a veteran seeker from the Ravenclaw Team managed to gain the lead.

Despite that he was not first, Harry knew that he was on solid ground. Chancing a look backwards, he could see that a Beater and the Keeper that had played the year before were a little bit behind. Pleasantly, however, he noticed that behind those two were the small forms of Roger and Sam.

Smiling to himself, he focused on the race.

When the laps ended, Harry was being scrutinized by the team captain, who just nodded his head satisfyingly. "Quidditch runs in your blood Potter. Your father had it, so did your grandfather, all the way up to the beginning of Quidditch itself."

Harry clenched his fists at the mention of his "family," but he just muttered, "Thanks."

The captain turned away and addressed the entire group. "Now, those of you that will try out for Keeper line up here. Those of you that want to try out for Chaser, line up there. Beaters, on the far side, and Seekers head for those goalposts."

Harry sat around with Roger and waited as the team captain tested the Keepers.

Harry grinned. "How much do you bet that I will get in and you won't, Davies?" he said in a faux imperious tone.

Roger replied in an equally haughty voice. "How much do you bet that I will get in and _you_ won't, Potter?"

Both laughed. Harry recovered quickly and asked, "Five Galleons?"

"Five Galleons."

The two friends shook hands and turned to face the captain, who had just arrived. "Okay guys, and girls," he said, nodding his head to the lone female in the group. "Since I am one of the Chasers already, that means only two spots will be open. Since Robert, who was the Keeper last year, has won the position again, you will fly against him. Each of you will have three tries to score. Understand?"

Again, the group muttered a bunch of ragged _yes's_.

The captain pointed at a random boy in the group and said, "You! You're up!"

Harry's eyes barely followed the boy as his Cleansweep went out of control and flung its unlucky occupant into a goalpost.

Roger winced in sympathy. Harry gave him a pointed stare and looked away.

Harry noted with interest that most of the applicants were known among the Ravenclaws to be the smartest yet the least popular. _The probably just want to be liked_, he thought with a little pity.

Overall, the most talented player so far was Roger, who scored to goals and flew down with a smug grin on his face. Half of the group was sent to the Hospital Wing, and the rest weren't in much better shape. Harry saw Sam from the Beater group shaking his head in disappointment at the apparent lack of talent.

Finally, it was his turn. Harry clutched his broom and shot up, intercepting the Quaffle that the team captain threw neatly and flew gracefully in the air. He accelerated at a high speed, heading straight for the keeper, eliciting a gasp of shock from the crowd below…only to swerve aside at the last moment and throw the red ball into the left hoop.

The young wizard shot down towards the ground again, snatching another Quaffle from the captain. Harry swerved past a pair of hawks and flew high into the air.

The cool wind whipped around his face as he whipped through the air. Harry could see the keeper's determined face as he headed closer, closer, closer towards him. The young wizard punched the Quaffle straight at the keeper, whose face turned into one of relief. That is, until Harry rammed the tail of his broom in the opposite direction, this time sending the ball into the rightmost hoop.

Harry retrieved another Quaffle from the ground and flew once more. He headed, to the audience's confusion, not towards the goalposts but away from it. Harry pulled up, up, and away, vanishing into the clouds above.

The group below fell silent. Sam and Roger's mouth were open in shock and horror. Even the normally staunch captain was stupefied. No one moved.

Finally, those with the most refined hearing could detect a yell. Not one of horror or tragedy or fear. But more of…excitement?

Harry Potter zoomed down towards the earth, his excited, frenzied yells never losing enthusiasm. The young wizard rocketed towards the keeper at a high speed, lifted his fist to strike the Quaffle and at one moment, the ball was there, and at the next, it was gone.

The keeper looked around in bemusement. However, the rest of the crowd was looking at him, no, _behind _him.

The keeper turned around and saw that a noticeable crack had appeared on the Quidditch stadium. His eyes traveled down, and he noticed that red pieces of leather littered the ground.

The captain looked at the remains of the Quaffle and back at Harry, who was smirking triumphantly at Roger.

"You're Chaser, Potter."

"Again, Harry-san!"

Harry swung his sword at his old Professor, who dodged it and sent a blade of magic in response to the attack. The young wizard barely managed to dodge it, and was barely able to block the incoming katana that relentlessly attacked.

"What have I told you, student! Don't block the attacks, DEFLECT them for the love of Buddha!"

The elemental gritted his teeth and fueled his concentration. Thankfully, the next attack he was able to deflect at an angle.

* * *

"Good! You are learning fast!"

Harry ducked beneath a fast horizontal slice and sent a blast of red fire at Professor Yamato, who calmly banished the inferno with a rune.

Harry unyieldingly went on the offensive, but fell for a feint and ended up getting a nice slash on his thigh for his recklessness. The young wizard fell in pain, clutching his bleeding wound.

Yamato sighed and sheathed his sword. "Enough for today, Harry-san. You have pushed yourself too hard. He walked over to the wounded wizard and cast a few Healing Charms."

Harry sighed as a cool sensation rejuvenated his limbs. "Thank you Professor."

Yamato smiled. "It is I who should thank _you_, Harry-san, for you have given me a person whom I can teach. And though I have come here for refuge, you have given me a purpose to why I should stay on this earth and not commit seppuku **[AN: Ritual Suicide]**."

The young wizard hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Professor…why have you come here?"

Seeing the old man's eyes flash, Harry quickly followed up, "I'm sorry Professor, that was totally out of my place to ask."

Yamato closed his eyes and replied, "It is fine, Harry-san. I really should tell you."

"But-"

"Silence, Harry-san. I came here because I needed to escape. For fifty years, I have been hiding from Japanese nationalists after I protested against the use of kamikaze in the Second Great War," Yamato said slowly. "They had tortured and killed my family, my friends, everyone who knew me."

Yamato closed his fingers around something in his neck. "They followed me, never impatient, never brash. One day, I tried to fight them directly." Yamato closed his eyes.

"On that day, I killed fifty-eight innocent people when fighting against five Japanese nationalists. I killed all of them, my blood-lust overriding my rational sense. Men, women, children, old, young, pregnant, of every race, age, and condition."

"With warrants out for my arrest, I was forced into hiding. I have been this way for the past twenty years. And finally, I came here," he smiled bitterly. "At least I hope that I have saved my soul by passing on my knowledge to the next generation of hope."

The two fell into silence. It stayed that way for a few minutes. Harry finally replied, "I'm glad you came Professor."

The old man smiled genuinely and replied, "I am too, Harry-san. I am too."

* * *

"Captains, shake hands!"

The Ravenclaw Captain, Andrew Heinemann, shook hands with the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint. Behind the two, Roger, Sam, and Harry were giving mock glares at Elan, who was alone, and gulping nervously.

Madame Hooch rose in the air, and tossed the Quaffle high into the air. With a snatch, the Ravenclaw Captain was off, heading at a high speed straight for the Slytherin Goal.

"Heinemann takes off, passes it to Davies, back to Heinemann, back to-Oh! Malfoy is off, what a wicked look he has on his face! SORRY Professor McGonagall! Malfoy passes to Flint, back to Malfoy, who shoots and-Potter takes the Quaffle! A turnaround as Potter approaches the goal, Davies and Heinemann covering him…the two fly off and Potter shoots…GOAL 10-0 Ravenclaw!"

Harry grinned as he flew off, leaving the stupefied keeper to retrieve the ball. Roger smile and gave him a thumbs-up, which Harry returned.

"So…Brooks passes it to Malfoy, who passes it to Eichaman! Eichaman flies smoothly, approaches the goals and-OUCH! Nice Bludger from Greengrass over there, Potter takes possession, and he weaves through the Slytherin Defense, passes it to Davies, who passes it to-MALFOY! Malfoy takes it down the pitch, ducks a well-aimed Bludger from Greengrass again, and shoots…SAVE by Driker! Davies has possession, passes the ball to Potter, to Heinemann, Davies, Potter, Davies and he shoots…GOAL 20-0 Ravenclaw!"

"Malfoy receives the ball from Brooks, flies off to the right. Bludger from Greengrass hits Flint, Malfoy dodges another Bludger, around Davies, to the goalposts, Malfoy shoots…GOAL 20-10!"

"Potter receives the Quaffle from Driker, passes it to Davies, who ducks a Bludger, passes to Heinemann, passes it to-MALFOY speeds down the pitch, nears the goals, and-OUCH! Friendly Fire Bludger, Potter catches the Quaffle and speeds down the pitch and…I believe Higgs has seen the snitch ALREADY!"

Harry growled as he saw a smug Terrence Higgs speeding towards a tiny gold ball. He went of his designated course and dove right in front of the Slytherin Seeker, cutting of the seeker's line of sight.

The snitch sped away far into the air, where it was quite safe from Terrence's hand.

"Nice distraction from Potter, Higgs looks like he's gonna kill someone…SORRY PROFESSOR! Ok, Potter dives beneath Malfoy, around Eichaman, dodges a Bludger and approaches the goal…GOAL 30-10!"

The game went on and on, and despite the Slytherin's best efforts, they were slowly being pushed back.

Finally, desperation was on the line, and the score was 240-110 to Ravenclaw. Harry, Roger and their teammates tried their best to score, but the Slytherins resorted to brutal force that they were known for.

The Ravenclaw Captain Andrew Heinemann was knocked clean off his broom when Marcus Flint rammed into him. Madame Hooch awarded Ravenclaw a penalty kick, and Harry scored, but they had lost one of their best players.

In less than 10 minutes, the keeper and the seeker were knocked out of the game. Both times, Ravenclaw was awarded penalty kicks, bringing the score to 260-110. Harry and the remainder of his team formed a defensive position. However, both sides knew that this tactic would not succeed.

Finally, Roger got the ball after a strong hit from Sam hit the Quaffle straight from Elan's hands. Roger than passed the ball to Harry, who raced away towards the Slytherin goalposts. Harry narrowed his eyes and pulled his broom skywards.

Those who had watched the Ravenclaw tryouts held their breaths. Silence fell over the once noisy crowd.

"Tis a sad day. Ravenclaw Chaser Potter apparently wanted to reach the moon," the announcer said cheekily. Professor McGonagall was too speechless to reprimand him.

Suddenly, those who had been listening for it caught the yell, the yell of excitement.

The voice grew in magnitude and the audience began to roar.

Harry, on the other hand, saw that his stunt might actually not work. The Slytherin Terrence Higgs was closely fixicated upon one shiny golden snitch hovering not fifteen feet away from the seeker.

Harry knew it. It was impossible to win the game without it. Still carrying the Quaffle, Harry jumped off his broom.

He fell, not seeing the looks of horror on the professors face.

He didn't see the wildly cheering Weasley twins, who still had no idea what was going on.

He didn't see the looks of hatred coming from Zacharias Smith or his cronies.

He didn't see the shocked faces of Sam, Roger, Elan, Cedric, and Samantha as they watched him fall.

There was only him and the Quaffle.

He flipped backwards, dropped the ball, and let his feet fly forward, punting the Quaffle into the hoop so hard that it left the hoop vibrating.

Harry Potter kept his trajectory, gracefully twisting like his feline form, and landed on his swerving broom less than a foot above the ground.

A second later, the blue beams of several Cushioning Charms hit the space of which he would have landed on.

Harry tilted his head, and saw that a green blur of Terrence Higgs was narrowing ever so closer to the Snitch, but he didn't know it was too late.

The young wizard smirked as he saw the seeker grasp the small flying ball, lift it high above his head to a cheering crowd…

Only to find that the crowd wasn't cheering for him. The seeker looked at the score-board in disbelief, looking from the snitch to the scoreboard.

Harry shook his head and did a few laps around the pitch for the enjoyment of the crowd. Landing alongside his remaining team, he was smothered in a giant group hug.

He turned around and saw Elan, who had a shocked look on his face. "Di-di-did y-you ju-jus-ju-just…"

Harry smiled, a real smile, and said, "Sure Elan. That was a really good game."

The young Malfoy just shook his head and said, "I'll never be as good as you, mate."

"Who cares, Elan. It's just a game!"

"JUST A GAME?" Sam shrieked.

Cedric and Samantha came running down, huffing and puffing. "That-was-awesome!" Cedric gasped out in between breaths. "Can't-believe-you-did-that!"

Samantha just hugged Harry lightly and said, "Glad you're ok."

"What about me?" Sam asked in an attempted puppy eyes look.

"You," Samantha said sweetly. "Get a nice knee for your wonderful game."

Laughing, shoving, and talking, the six friends walked back to Hogwarts, not realizing that eight malevolent eyes watched them as they traveled back.

* * *

"_Hakai Suru_," Professor Yamato said slowly, his calm voice filling the room. "The literal translation is 'Destroy.' Used by kamikaze soldiers from Japan during the Second World War. This spell destroys everything, including oneself, in a six hundred foot radius. Everything physical is either burned or gone."

Harry carefully wrote the notes down and filed it away in his Defense folder. Next to him, Sam and Roger were frantically copying down Cedric's notes. Cedric, at the same time, was flirting with a few girls next to him.

Harry shook his head. Cedric was in danger of becoming a Sirius! He shuddered.

"My father served in the Japanese Imperial Army when he was fifty years old. He blew himself up when American troops walked past his hideout." The old man shuddered. "When the Americans went to find the bodies, there were either burned hideously or just simply gone. My father's body had disappeared completely."

Zacharias Smith whispered to one of his goons, "Wish our Professor did the same, huh?"

Harry saw his professor's back stiffen slightly.

The pureblood, sensing that the professor was losing control, remarked snidely. "Then again, maybe he already tried to do it. Maybe our professor is the same one that used this spell to kill 66 innocent people back in 1960. My father says that he killed his mother in the crowd! No one would've missed her, being the garbage of the planet."

"SILENCE!"

All eyes turned to the Professor, who was letting off tendrils of magical energy. "DO NOT SPEAK OF THEM, SMITH-SAN, OR I ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WILL NOT STAY LONG ON THIS EARTH!"

Suddenly, he stopped. The flow of magic was cut off, and the old professor looked even older then ever. The professor sighed sadly, and said, "Leave. Class is dismissed."

In a hurry, all of the students packed up their things and left. All except one.

Harry walked up to Professor Yamato's desk. "Professor?"

"Yes Harry-san?"

The young wizard paused. "I know it pains you to tell me, but what really happened that day. When you killed sixty six other people? I need to know."

The old man sighed. "I was an angry troubled young man back then. I wanted to show them what the spell could do to others, so when the nationalists confronted me, I cast the spell."

"My…my mother, who was the only survivor of the nationalist torture, arrived in time to see me about to commit suicide. She wanted to save her only son so…so she cast Blood Magic."

Harry's eyes widened. Blood Magic was extraordinarily powerful, enough so that one could stop the Killing Curse with it.

"She cast it so that she would die, and so I were to live. And so when I cast the spell, I was thrown high into the air, knocked unconscious. So, when I woke, I saw Aurors running through the streets and I Apparated out of there."

"I killed her. My last model in life. And that has made me a changed man ever after."

Harry nodded. The seemingly strong and resolute Professor was now reduced to an elderly, crying mess. The young wizard awkwardly comforted the old man, holding him gingerly yet firmly as the Professor cried.

H

* * *

Harry Potter was feeling just fine. After an intense game with Hufflepuff, in which the Ravenclaws barely won, the Ravenclaw House Cup was nearly guaranteed. He toured the castle, for the final exams were past and he, like last year, had graduated first from his year.

He rounded the Greenhouses and took a walk around the Forbidden Forest, his body turning into a lithe and strong one of a snow leopard. Harry strolled amiably around the forest, happiness filling his limbs and strengthening them.

Harry yowled and pranced through the forest, under a bush, around a trunk, and stopped stiff with fear. Around him, the half eaten carcasses of centaurs, unicorns, and beasts surrounded him. A heavy, rotting stench filled the clearing that he walked into.

Cautiously, he sniffed the air. _Impossible_, he thought to himself. He sniffed again. He cocked his ear high into the air, and froze when he heard a noise. The noise of hundreds of feet padding quickly towards him. A howl filled the air, and the forest became alive.

"TO WAR!"

Acromantulas!

Harry darted back just as a spider barreled through the air and landed right in front of him. Both animals stared at one another for a moment before both moved. The Acromantula struck. The snow leopard…ran.

Harry turned breathless. His feet were a blur beneath him, padding quickly away from the growing mass behind him.

He reached the edge of the forest, transforming into his human form and sending a Banishing Charm behind him. An unearthly shriek signified that he had hit his target square on.

His legs pounded. Harry simply could not stop now, not when so much was at stake. He shoved others out of the way, ignoring the prefect's shouts. He turned a corner and came face to face with Professor Yamato.

"Harry-san! A pleasure. I was looking-"

"Professor-Acromantulas-coming-five-minutes-no-time-HELP!"

The old man followed his pointed finger, and his eyes widened dramatically. He pulled Harry close and whispered, "Harry-san, I want you to notify the first Professor you find that the Acromantulas are coming, understand?"

"But Professor, you can't just fight them alone!"

Yamato smiled grimly, "That's the least I can do now. My time has come, Harry-san. Now go. GO!"

With that, the elderly Professor ran through the halls and out into the court-yard. Harry made as to run after him, but forced himself to head for the nearest office, the dungeons.

Harry leaped down the staircase that led to the Potions classroom. Curious Slytherin students attempted to follow, but he shoved them out of the way and ran into the classroom where a few students were half-heartedly serving detentions. Harry sprinted to his Potion Professor's office, and when he reached it, gasped out desperately, "Professor-help-quick-Acromantula-attack-Professor-Yamato-out-there-HELP-HIM!"

Professor Snape quickly drew his wand at the word Acromantula and yelled to Harry, "Go back to your common room Potter! Now!" After an afterthought he added, "And do try to keep your abnormally large head out of trouble."

The greasy Professor headed for the fireplace briskly, stepped in and shouted, "Dumbledore's Office!"

Harry sat down, torn between helping his mentor and obeying the Professor's orders. Clearing his mind, and reaching out into the world he could feel that the old man was weakening. The young wizard got up and ran back to the grounds to help the Professor.

He rushed by, yelling at all other students to head back inside. All obeyed, for they felt the fear in his voice. Shoving his way past a screaming crowd, Harry saw a one Zacharias Smith strolling out with his cronies.

"Potter! Nice day for a walk, huh?" the pureblood grinned evilly. "I haven't forgotten what you did to me last year, humiliating me like that! I've been waiting all year for this!"

The pureblood raised his wand slowly, his fellow goons around him doing so as well.

Harry shook his head and said, "Go Smith! I don't want to fight right now. Please! Just run!"

Zacharias shook his head. "I think you should be the one that should run, Potter!"

Harry's eyes widened as he saw an Acromantula right behind his tormenter. The pureblood mistook the widening as a sign of fear and smiled. "That's right Potter, learn your place-Oof!"

Zacharias was summoned forward just as the large spider landed right where he was a second before. With a wave of his wand, the goons were sent flying back into the safety of Hogwarts. Another flick, and a large mound of rubble covered the entrance.

"You coward, Potter! Wait till I get you!"

Ignoring the idiot's whiny voice, Harry turned and focused on the upcoming fight.

The Acromantula clicked its teeth and launched itself forwards. Harry coolly stepped aside and blasted its head off with a _Reducto_. The young wizard dodged the still wiggling carcass and continued on the pathway.

He detected another large spider launch itself at him. Quickly he summoned a thick branch and transformed it into a sword. Harry rolled aside as an Acromantula leaped forwards, its teeth gleaming in the sunset. The young wizard calmly sent a blast of black fire at the aggressor, burning three of its legs off.

The spider yelped in pain and stumbled backwards. Neatly, Harry sidestepped a blast of spider silk, sliced through another bundle, and cut off the Acromantula's head with ease.

Harry turned on the dirt path, after making sure that there were no more Acromantulas. Up ahead, he could already hear the sounds of battle.

When he struggled to the top of a small hill, he was able to see the fight.

Professor Yamato had a wand in one hand that cast unyielding blue fire at his enemies and his worn katana in the other, parrying attacks made by the enormous spiders. On the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he could see a gigantic spider rallying waves of Acromantulas at the lone fighter in the middle.

"Die human! For I am Aragog the Mighty, Emperor of the Acromantulas!"

Harry started down the hill but was repulsed when a slight Banishing Charm pushed him back. It came from Yamato. Harry tried again, but was shocked when the same result happened.

Harry yelled, "Let me help you Professor! You can't do this alone!"

The elderly Professor looked up, a picture of perfect serenity on his face. There was a lull in the fight, as the man had dispatched another wave of spiders.

"Never thought it would end like this, right, Harry-san?"

"Professor! No!"

The old man sadly smiled at Harry one last time after incinerating an Acromantula and beheading another. "Good-bye…Harry. Never forget me."

"PROFESSOR!"

Professor Yamato Hiri-san raised his wand high up into the air and cried out, "_Hakai Suru_!"

"NO!"

The world stopped. There was nothing except for the serene look of acceptance on the old man's face. And the world came crashing down.

A shock wave erupted from the old man, disintegrating everything in its path. Acromantulas screamed in terror as they were vaporized into nothingness. Harry could do nothing but watch as everything disappeared.

"PROFESSOR!"

He crawled towards the man, but was held back as strong hands pulled him backwards. He saw Sirius and Remus holding him back, a solemn look in their eyes.

Behind them, the Hogwarts Professors emerged.

And behind them came the forms of Sam, Roger, Cedric, Elan, and Samantha, all walking slowly towards them.

And behind them, the solemn mass of Hogwarts students followed, quietly paying their respects to the person that had literally saved Hogwarts.

The group watched sorrowfully at the fires that rose high into the night, feeding on the corpses of the Acromantula army and a single wizard in the center.

**AN: So that's that. Yamato's death was inspired by the death of Dom Whateverhisnameis from Gears of War.**

**I will retreat into deep hibernation for two weeks or so. Sorry, but I need to revise my whole story. My writing really sucked back then.**

**Pairing Suggestions? Love it? Hate it? REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 8

By: Paperfist

Harry sat on his trunk in his dormitory. His fingers lightly traced a pattern on the wall, deep in thought.

Sam came in quietly. "Hey," the boy said morosely. Harry looked up, an emotionless mask on his face. The other boy continued, "Well…the train is going to arrive in thirty minutes or so. You might want to get ready."

Looking away from Sam, Harry turned his head away quickly and nodded. The scion of Greengrass hesitated for a moment, then added, "It wasn't your fault, mate. Professor Yamato knew what he was doing, and he saved you. Don't go moping around like this to spite his sacrifice. Please."

Harry only stared ahead, his eyes never wavering from the cold grey wall ahead of him.

Sam sighed and turned away. Just before he passed through the door, however, Harry spoke.

"Thanks Sam. That really meant a lot to me you know."

The pureblood turned around and smiled briefly at the other wizard. He then turned around and left the room.

Harry sat back again, shaking his head slowly. His friends didn't even understand. Only if he was a little faster, only if he wasn't so weak…

Tears filled Harry's eyes and the guilt rose up again, this time in greater waves.

There he was, Harry Potter, the true Boy-Who-Lived, able to have defeated one of the greatest Dark Lords of all time, and yet he didn't even have the power to defend his friends. _Maybe Adam's right. Maybe I'm just another weak fool on the face of this planet._

Fury and frustration filled his veins. Harry lifted his hands, a weak conduit such as a wand not needed to channel his sorrow, his hatred, his anger, his guilt.

Harry focused his attention onto an unlucky bunk bed. His magic poured through, grasping the bed and crushed it into an unrecognizable lump.

He threw his hand to the side, and the bunk bed followed. Harry's hands trembled with power, and wave of black fire flew from them and burned the next bunk bed into nothing but a crisp.

Harry began to relive the memory. A desperate part of him tried to fight it, but he could do nothing but see it all again.

_Harry turned on the dirt path, after making sure that there were no more Acromantulas. Up ahead, he could already hear the sounds of battle._

Stop! Harry cried out desperately to himself. He didn't want to see it…no not that again…

_When he struggled to the top of a small hill, he was able to see the fight._

_Professor Yamato had a wand in one hand that cast unyielding blue fire at his enemies and his worn katana in the other, parrying attacks made by the enormous spiders. On the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he could see a gigantic spider rallying waves of Acromantulas at the lone fighter in the middle._

_Harry started down the hill but was repulsed when a slight Banishing Charm pushed him back. It came from Yamato. Harry tried again, but was shocked when the same result happened._

_Harry yelled, "Let me help you Professor! You can't do this alone!"_

_The elderly Professor looked up, a picture of perfect serenity on his face. There was a lull in the fight, as the man had dispatched another wave of spiders._

Harry shook his head. Why was he so useless? Why was he so weak? Why was he such a bumbling fool? He tried to block out the memory, a valiant yet futile attempt to drive his guilt away…

"_Never thought it would end like this, right, Harry-san?"_

"_Professor! No!"_

_The old man sadly smiled at Harry one last time after incinerating an Acromantula and beheading another. "Good-bye…Harry. Never forget me."_

"_PROFESSOR!"_

_Professor Yamato Hiri-san raised his wand high up into the air and cried out, "Hakai Suru!"_

Harry's vision began to blur as tears filled the sides of his eyes.

_You're weak, _said a snide voice inside him. _Worthless. Pathetic._

"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, to no one in particular. "WHO ARE YOU TO KNOW WHAT TO DO?"

_Your brother was right about you. You are trash. Nobody cares about you. You could just die and nobody would notice._

"THAT'S A LIE!"

_You know I speak the truth. They all just want to be close to your brother through you. They don't give a shit about you._

Inside his mind, Harry saw himself walking out of the Great Hall. Behind him, he could see his friends giving him suspicious glances and whispering.

The vision changed, and he could see Roger and Sam spitting on Harry when he was asleep, laughing and taking turns vandalizing his stuff.

"STOP IT!"

The voice began to laugh. _How do you feel now, to know that your friends aren't really your friends?_

A chunk of wall went flying when a wandless Blasting Curse ripped it from its original position. A spike of ice rammed itself through the remnants of a nearby window, flying all the way down, nearly impaling itself into a carriage.

He saw Sirius raise his wand and smile. _You seriously thought I was there for you the whole time, pup. How ignorant of you. Avada Kedavra!_

The voice cackled. _All those around you were never yours, and never will be. You will always be dominated by those without the power of yours, betrayed by all, despised by all, and then you will be mine, Potter!_

"I HATE YOU!"

A magical purple wave of energy flew from him and shook the very castle to its core. The walls around him were disintegrated, the dormitories next to him not in any better shape. The voice abruptly stopped. Harry fell to his knees, his chest heaving. Carnage surrounded him, greater than even the nightmare the year before.

Harry bowed his head. A storm of memories, some his, others foreign, began to fill his mind. Harry moaned. Not these again…

"_Avada Kedavra!" the hooded man shrieked. A jet of green headed towards him, only to bounce off a golden shield and back towards the Dark Lord…_

_He was on the walls of a white city, a brilliant white horse beneath him, staring down at a never-ending army off beasts driven by hatred. He was wallowing in despair, yet he drew his sword and prepared to lead his men into battle. He could not lose, yet how could they win? He swallowed before yelling a battle cry…_

_He was hiding in the shadows as a handsome, hazel-eyed man and a beautiful green-eyed woman with long lustrous red hair gazed fondly at a young, fat toddler, not caring about the other person forever obscured…_

_He was on a horse, along with the rest of his brigade, charging down at a mass of hundreds of guns. Beside him, men were cut down as they charged, artillery shells ripping apart their bodies. Hundreds of infantry raised their rifles and fired. He was struck by a volley and fell to the ground. The men that survived kept on going, valiantly yet fruitlessly trying to gain ground. That last that he saw was a man with a Russian insignia on his chest smiling cruelly before plunging a sword into his heart._

_Moody thumped his chest. "Great men become great because they will it! Heroic deeds are done because heroes will it! And believe me when I say, Harry Potter, that you can scale the heights of power, staking your own name into the grains of history, immortalizing yourself forever if you will it!"_

His rage, sorrow, and fury that welled up inside of him were replaced by a bitter determination.

He would never let anyone dictate his life again.

He would never let anyone get in his way.

He would never let anyone get away with harming those he cared about.

Harry's eyes snapped open, emerald eyes blazing with an indomitable will and an unquenchable desire to succeed.

He was Harry Potter, and he was going to kick some ass.

Sirius sat down with a sigh at his favorite bar, thinking about his godson. Beside him, one Remus Lupin was busy gulping down a glass of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey, the werewolf gagging on the harsh alcohol.

Sirius sighed when the werewolf staggered out, retching. Remus would never learn, would he?

He turned his attention back onto his semi-charge. The day that Harry had gone home from Hogwarts was a very cold, tense day. The young wizard had clammed up entirely, even towards his closest friends. Sirius shook his head. Including himself.

When he gotten home, Harry had immediately asked Sirius where he could work at. Shocked, Sirius told Harry that he should get some rest first. Not even missing a beat, Harry had gone straight to the Floo and yelled, "Diagon Alley!"

Three hours later, Sirius found Harry cleaning The Leaky Cauldron, though it was thanks to Remus's acute senses and a few anti-Glamour Charms. After a shouting match that included all three of them as well as Tom, the bartender, they agreed that Harry could work there six days a week.

Sirius shook his head and raised his drink, toasting towards a pretty woman next to him. After gulping down the fiery drink, he resumed his train of thought.

There was something very different about Harry after his Professor's death. Knowing Harry, the young wizard probably blamed himself about the death. The dog Animagus shook his head sadly. Harry might be cold towards most people, but inside, he always blamed himself if another person died or failed. It was perhaps the only trait that he shared with his father.

And speaking of the father, he saw James and his…pampered son to say the least at the broom shop. Sirius shook his head when he saw Adam pointing at the _Nimbus 2000_, his expression becoming one of disgust when he saw James nodding his head and smiling.

He took another swig of Firewhiskey. For some reason, he felt that this year was going to be of great importance. It wasn't as if he was a Seer or anything close to the like, but more like…a sixth sense.

Glancing outside the window, he saw Harry under a Glamour heading to Florish and Blotts. Sirius cursed. His annoying-as-hell godson was working there too?

Remus, staggering, just shook his head at Sirius and managed to get outside without falling. The dog Animagus rolled his eyes and returned to his pondering.

Something didn't add up. Why was Harry so determined to become powerful? Why was he-and to Sirius' best knowledge-not his brother a Parselmouth? Why was Harry so talented at Adam's age, while Adam was a little weak loafer?

Sirius didn't know. The enigma that he had for a godson was hiding something.

But what is it?

The dog Animagus shook away his thoughts as the woman next to him began to smile lecherously at him. Sirius grinned. There was time to think about it later.

Right now, there was time for a little fun.

Harry flipped over, the blade of his opponent passing not five inches away from his body. The young wizard landed lightly and advanced, forcing his opponent back in a barrage of fast blows.

Not missing a beat, his enemy blocked them all and retaliated, his strikes so fast that Harry saw four blades blurred. Falling into a classic Form III stance, he blocked or evaded them all.

Slowly, his adversary began to tire, and Harry began to take the advantage. Harry sidestepped a slash to the left, cut through a blast of wandless fire, and kicked his opponent solidly backwards.

However, his enemy just landed with an unnatural grace. Again, Harry pushed back his opponent with a flurry of blows, forcing him backwards.

To Harry's chagrin, his opponent got lucky and disarmed him when Harry's guard faltered. Not even acknowledging that he had lost his weapon, Harry let out a wave of energy that sent his adversary flying through the air.

Staggering to his feet, wand raised and pointed at him, Harry's opponent yelled out, "_Reducto Maximus!_"

The spell howled from the wand of Harry's enemy, ready to envelop the young wizard and destroy his body.

Calmly, Harry raised his arm and whispered in Parseltongue, _Let the Power of the Snake-Lords shield me!_

The overpowered Reductor curse crashed into the Parsel Shield, the ancient magiks created by the snakes easily absorbing the spell.

Harry smiled when he saw the confused and slightly frightened face of his opponent.

"Surprised?" he called out, amused.

His opponent growled, "Never, Potter!"

Harry dissolved the shield, letting the Reductor curse's power absorb into his sword. A raise of his hand, and the blade burst into black flames.

Harry's adversary lifted a nearby log, weighing half a ton, with magic and threw the massive load at him. Harry simply sliced through the wood, the two burning halves flying behind him.

Grunting with exertion, his enemy lifted an entire pile of lumber, and threw it again. Harry again sliced through the heavier load, his blade lighting up his face with an unnatural glow.

With one last effort, his opponent managed to lift a huge mass, of raw metal from a mine along with several other tree trunks and stones, throwing the jumble of matter at Harry. The young wizard saw his adversary's face dripping with sweat before the load was on him.

Harry ran at the fast approaching projectiles, letting cold rage and frustration fill him with concentration and power. He screamed at he let his magic protect his body, sword cutting straight through whatever Harry wanted it to.

He could feel the heat as he was scorched by black flames, feeling that he was squeezed tighter and tighter…before he erupted from the other end.

Already he could see his enemy, no longer smug, take up a defensive position, before he was on him. Harry battered his blade against his opponent's, forcing the other, tired man backwards. Slowly, Harry's adversary slumped backwards, blade still up but barely able to defend against the rain of powerful yet fast blows.

Finally, Harry flipped over a counterattack, and using his momentum, spun sideways, legs kicking out. The other man's legs were knocked away, sword bouncing far from his grasp.

His opponent fell bodily to the floor, Harry's flaming blade instantly at his neck.

Harry said calmly, "I win."

Mad-Eye Moody lifted his hands and replied, "Aye. You got me there Potter. The youngest person to have ever beaten me one on one."

The ex-Auror tilted his head to the sighed and said, "Then again, I did have a slight cold this morning."

Harry rolled his eyes in response to Moody's lousy attempt to excuse for his loss. He lifted his sword and inspected his eighth sword for the month. He groaned when he saw the deep hack marks on the side-testament to the beating it took in the previous fight.

Finally, the Auror stood up and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Good job today kid. You beat me."

Moody patted Harry on the back and left the room, leaving Harry more proud then he had ever been before.

**AN: Sorry that this chapter was a heckuva lot shorter then the prevous ones. It's just that I have so much to do. Also, my aunt is deathly ill, so I have to do a lot and take care of her.**

**So yeah.**

**Anyways, I have a poll up or pairings. PLEASE VOTE!**

**Love it? Hate it (no flames)? REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

E Pluribus Unum

Chapter 9

Paperfist 5

_One year later…_

"Hawwy! Food!"

Harry Potter groaned as a little toddler with dark green eyes and auburn hair began to pull quite violently at his hair.

"Kay, kay, that's enough June. Ugh! Ow! That actually hurt…"

"Food!"

Harry threw up his hands in defeat, surrendering to the little terror. His little sister could be such a monster. "Please June, I need some sleep! I took a beating from the asshole Moody today, all I want to do is rest…"

His little sister pouted. "Please?" she asked, her lips pouting and her gaze turning into a kicked-puppy look.

He sighed. "Fine…What would you like to eat, June?"

"Spaghetti!"

The young wizard sighed again. Ever since the first meal he had shared with her, his little sister associated the food with him. _Then again_, he thought. _I really am the only one that hangs around with her._

"You little brat," he said mock-harshly, though he picked her up gently and walked to the fireplace. "Grimmauld Place!"

A few whirling fireplaces and a bunch of excited squealing (from Rosie) later, the hazy forms of Sirius and Remus appeared, the two, as always, bickering.

"Did you steal my cookies _again_, Remus?"

"No! I only took a few…" the werewolf replied. Under the other man's harsh glare he withered and admitted, "Ok…maybe a little _more_ than a few but…"

"_Rictumsempra!_"

Brother and sister watched, one amused and the other excited respectively, as Remus ran throughout the house dodging prank spells from the furious dog Animagus.

Finally, Sirius got lucky with a well aimed Leg-Locker Curse and finally caught the elusive werewolf. "No fair!" Remus cried. "Binding curses are cheap, inefficient, and are the coward's way…"

"Blah blah blah Remus, thanks for repeating the same exact lecture that Moody gave me a couple years ago."

Sirius whirled around, wand immediately pointed at the intruder, only to recognize Harry in time before casting. "Dammit, pup, that's a good way to get yourself cursed." Sirius reversed himself when he saw the hell-freezing glare that he was on the receiving end of. "Accidentally, of course…"

Harry nodded curtly. "June here needs some food. She wants-"

"SPAGHETTI AGAIN?"

The young elemental winced at Remus's explosion. "Sorry Remus, but you know how she feels-"

"WHY HARRY? WHY? I HATE KREACHER'S COOKING! ESPECIALLY WHEN HE MAKES SPAGHETTI! THAT DAMNED HOUSE ELF NEVER COOKS MY BEEF RAW! IT'S COOKED LIKE DISGUSTING AND INEDIBLE SHIT!"

A sudden crack resonated, and all eyes turned to a small, hunched creature (no pun intended) that was glaring angrily at the werewolf. It said in a quiet yet deadly tone, "Sorry, Master Lupin? Kreacher thinks that he heard something he didn't like…"

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Remus laughed weakly. "It was only a joke, right Sirius?"

Remus looked up pleadingly at the dog Animagus standing over him, begging, imploring, beseeching his close companion to NOT side with the angry house elf. Sirius smiled evilly at his friend and shook his head. "Go get 'im, Kreacher."

Needless to say, the three unscathed observers were near permanently cast in St. Mungos for Irreversible Laughing and Utter Virus in Human Inner Vocals, known as (I.L.U.V.H.I.V)

* * *

Harry arose early next morning, forcing himself out of bed and into the kitchen. It was at least three in the morning, the dawn not yet arriving. Taking a good look around to make sure that not a soul was watching, he transformed into his snow leopard form and stalked throughout the forest near Godric's Hallow.

He curled himself up on a high hill, looking towards the east, watching, waiting for the person he knew would come.

Silence ruled for many minutes, not a sound as much as an owl hooting during the time. Instinctively, Harry's magic searched out around him and gave a sharp warning. The young wizard's eyes widened and he flipped backwards, transforming into his regular form in the process.

Harry saw a sharp blade continue its path towards his vulnerable body. Thinking quickly he summoned a branch, and with a flourish of his wand, the blade was stopped by the magically hardened wood.

The young wizard spoke, distrust clearly evident in his youthful voice. "That was completely uncalled for, _vampire_."

"My apologies," the vampire replied, a hint of amusement nearly hidden under the cultured voice. "Just testing your defenses, Mr. Potter."

Harry sighed in exasperation. "All's is forgiven Silvian. Do you have it with you?"

Silvian grinned, sharp fangs glinting in the disappearing moonlight. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. The question is, do you have what _I_ want? Or, more accurately, will you do what I want?"

The elemental, expression stony, raised his wand. "I swear upon my magic and my life that I, Harry Potter, will open a safe house for werewolves, vampires, and other such creatures in Knockturn Alley. I will not divulge or compromise the creatures inside for monetary compensation or any other form of payment. I also swear to protect said beings from any form of danger. So mote it be."

The other being nodded in satisfaction. "So mote it be."

A blue flash lit the hill for a split second before drawing itself into Harry. The wizard shook himself a little. "Now, your turn Silvian."

The vampire opened his cloak before drawing out a small piece of paper. "Here it is, Mr. Potter. I doubt that this will lead you anywhere. It's just a myth, created that those who ruled thousands of years before."

Harry smiled. "Muggles say the same about magic. Now, give it here."

Silvian dropped the ancient manuscript lightly into Harry's hand before he stepped backwards. "It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Potter."

"And you, Silvian."

The two shook hands before the vampire turned around and turned into a large vampire bat. Harry watched the creature fly high into the early dawn until the speck disappeared into the horizon. He grinned before he unfolded his prize.

_One of three keys,_

_Shall lead you across the Sea,_

_In the land of the Basilisks,_

_And the vaunted Dementor's Kiss,_

_Under the Mountain,_

_And above the Fountain,_

_You shall find the Second Key,_

_But be warned if you take more than your share,_

_And you'll find more than our treasure there._

* * *

Harry returned to the cottage at five thirty, before the coming of the sun and the inevitable awakening of the many creatures who lived throughout the forest.

He disabled the locking charms on the door with ease, swinging his muscular frame into the kitchen. Harry resealed the entrance before looking around carefully, taking a pinch of Floo powder, and disappearing into the fireplace in a blast of green flames.

The young wizard spun through the Floo network, stumbling a little awkwardly into Grimmauld Place. He fell lightly onto the floor, his lithe body barely making a sound as it landed onto the cool marble.

From the door next to him, he heard the trademark snores of Sirius. Peeking into the master bedroom, Harry saw Remus crashed out on a couch with a bottle of Firewhiskey lying empty on the floor. In the bed, a disheveled Sirius lay sprawled ungracefully on ripped sheets. Harry grinned. It was time for revenge those two pranksters that had so vexed him the years before.

After he finished his extensive work, Harry sat back down onto the worn couch, absent-mindedly fingering a small hole in the expensive leather cushion. He needn't have waited long.

Less than a minute after he sat down, an ear-piercing scream erupted from the master bedroom. After a volley of yelps and angry swearing, an irate Sirius shouted, "WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S HAIRY BALLS ARE YOU SCREAMING ABOUT REM-WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?"

"WHY'D YOU DO THIS TO ME SIRIUS? YOU ARE THE WORST SON OF A BI-"

Remus's frantic voice was cut off as a large batch of Uncontrollable Urination prank potion (invented by Harry himself) was dumped unceremoniously on the werewolf. A split second later, Sirius ran out of the room stark naked with a large trunk growing rapidly in place of his nose as well as enormous female breasts bobbing up and down on his body.

The dog Animagus was luckier than Remus though, as the werewolf raced out of the room also naked, but with a giant dick-head replacing his real actual head (with eyes and all) with hairy female nether regions. Not to mention that he was pissing nonstop from both places.

Harry rolled on the floor laughing, but the two men didn't notice him, as Sirius had ingested a Lust Potion when he was splashing "water" in his face to wake himself up from what he apparently thought was a dream. Remus had finally stopped ranting angrily at the world when he noticed something different about his friend.

The dog Animagus was licking his lips slowly, eyes tracing over Remus's hairy body. The trunk waved about slowly, and Remus could see that Sirius's "pride of his life" was growing rather profusely. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING SIRIUS?"

Harry waited for Sirius to close in on the poor half female werewolf before managing to gasp out between his laughter the incantation for a Stunning Spell. After completing this, Harry fell back onto the floor, unable to contain his laughter.

Remus narrowed his eyes on the laughing boy. "So you think that this is funny, don't you?"

Harry smirked. "Of course I do."

The werewolf stood, stunned at the boys insolence, as Harry whistled, kicked Sirius in the ribs with some force behind it, and wandlessly summoned milk and cereal.

This was a good start to his day.

* * *

Harry strolled amiably through the Leaky Cauldron, tripping Adam in the process, ignoring Lily's harsh reprimand, and avoiding a violent shove in retaliation from his brother. After buying a Butterbeer from Tom, he walked briskly into the back of the pub. Three sharp taps later, Harry entered Diagon Alley.

Almost immediately, Harry heard the loud squeals of excitement from the future first years, toddlers, shouts of outrage from harried buyers, and the continuous cries from vendors eager to sell their products. Grimacing in annoyance, he pushed himself past the crowded alley and to his destination: Gringotts Bank.

After dealing with an unlucky vendor who tried to sell magically enhanced cocaine to him, Harry walked up the white steps of the Goblin Bank. A flick of his hand, and the golden doors flipped open. A draft of cool air flooded from the building, relieving the hot sun that burned his back.

Inside the enormous bank, the quiet bustle of various witches and wizards had occupied many of the tellers. It took Harry nearly a minute to actually find an open one. And even then, he made it barely a second before another did.

"Excuse me, sir. Can I please speak with my account manager?"

The goblin looked up, a sneer on its ugly face. "Name?" he snarled.

"Harry Potter."

A few seconds later, the Goblin pulled up a file. "Ah. Yes. Mr. Potter. Recent account activity is…300,000 Galleon deposit from one Silvian Cosmescu for a…Sanctuary, it says. (Harry stood there shell-shocked by the amount of money he had received) Also, 5,000 Galleon deposit from Sirius Black for trust fund and 1,000 Galleon deposit from Alastor Moody for personal use. What did you want again?

"I wanted to speak with my account manager."

"Ah…your account manager. GRIPHOOK!"

A small goblin in a Gringotts stamped suit scurried out of a small, minor office nearby and next to the teller. "Yes?"

The teller gestured at Harry. "Take Mr. Potter to your office. He wants to talk with you."

The small goblin nodded and motioned for Harry to come inside the dingy office. Harry guessed correctly, judging by the condition of the office, that the goblin was in charge for low-security vaults.

"Now, Mr. Potter, why would you like to speak to me?"

The wizard closed the door with a resounding thud. "Sir, can I buy a deed for a building in Knockturn Alley?"

"You aren't of age yet, Mr. Potter. Therefore, you cannot use your account to buy property without your guardian's permission. If that's all, leave," the goblin snarled angrily. "I'm a busy man after all."

Harry bristled. "But I can _recommend_ that my account manager to buy property under the Gringotts Code Part 71, Chapter 6, Paragraph 398, Sentence 6."

The goblin groaned. "Not again…" Griphook muttered as he pulled an enormous book from beneath his desk. "What were the numbers again?"

"Part 71, Chapter 6, Paragraph 3, Sentence 6."

Griphook flipped the book open with a claw, the dirty nails tracing over the sentences. Its expression turned thoughtful. "You do have a point, Mr. Potter."

Harry smirked triumphantly. "Now, can I please see the deeds?"

The small creature pulled out a large file and pulled out a few sheets of parchment. "How large do you want the building to be, Mr. Potter?"

"As large as you can find, sir."

"Hmmm…Here's one. Located thirty meters into Knockturn Alley. Fifty by forty meters, three bathrooms, living quarters upstairs, three house elves to start with, a bar, tiled floors, eighteen curtains, fourte-"

"OK! Got it! Yes! That one." Harry said, a little overwhelmed. "How much is it?"

Griphook sneered. "As if you could afford it. In case you forgot, your last account balance was a mere eight hundred and thirty seven Galleons, twenty Sickles, and four Knuts."

Harry smiled coldly. "Check again, sir."

The goblin grabbed another file from his desk and opened it, eyes widening when he saw the wizard's amount of money.

"Again, how much is the building?"

Griphook stammered out, "180,000 Galleons Mr. Potter."

"Good." Harry gave a slight bow to his account manager before pushing his chair back in. "I expect to have the deed by tomorrow at nine' o'clock. Also, I would like to withdraw three thousand of the five thousand from my trust account and seven hundred of the recent one thousand Galleon deposit."

"Of course, Mr. Potter."

Griphook returned a few minutes later staggering under the weight of the sacks. Deciding to pity the goblin, Harry took the burden from his account manager, took out ten Galleons, and deftly tossed them at Griphook. "In return for your silence! May your gold always flow like water…" Harry called back as he left the office, voice trailing off into the distance.

Griphook smiled. In his mind, a certain human boy was now elevated slightly above other humans in terms of Goblin respect.

* * *

"HARRY!"

The wizard in mention hastily tried to run as he was pursued by a tall athletic boy. If one looked closely, said boy had the crest of Greengrass stamped on his clothing, with an attractive elegant blonde and a smaller, younger duplicate staring at the excitable boy.

"Sam! Don't do this to me-Oof!"

The tall boy impacted solidly into the side of Harry, the Greengrass heir grinning nonstop. "How was your summer mate?"

"It was decent, until _you_ came along Greengrass," Harry retorted, half-annoyed yet half-amused.

"C'mon Harry. It's time that you met my family!"

"Hope that they aren't as stuck up as Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Malfoy."

"Hey! Narcissa isn't so bad. Kinda hot…" Sam trailed off, a far away look in his eye and drool slightly.

"Pervert," Harry muttered. He kicked the taller boy in the shin hard, waking him from his fantasy. "Weren't you going to show me your family?"

"Huh? Oh! Yeah! Um…Hi mom, sis, this is one of my friends, Harry Potter! Harry, that's my mom, Lisa, and one of my sisters, Daphne. My youngest sister Astoria is being watched over by my dad, Alexander."

"A pleasure to meet you, Lady Greengrass," Harry said, brushing his lips over her knuckles lightly. "And you, Daphne."

Harry lowered himself to her eye-level. She blushed and asked him, "Are you the brother to the Adam Potter?"

Both mother and son of the Greengrass family caught the flash of pain that flitted across Harry's face. "Yes," Harry answered tightly. "He is my brother."

"Can you get me an autograph please?"

Harry answered slowly, careful to mask any emotion he felt. "My brother is right over there, you see?" He maneuvered the soon-to-be first year in the direction of Adam. "You can ask him for an autograph."

"Thank you!"

The small Greengrass tugged at her mother, pointing frantically at Adam, who, much to Harry and Sam's collective disgust, was giving exclusives and posing frantically for the camera.

Sam wisely chose not to talk about the Boy-Who-Lived and instead exclaimed to Harry, "There's Samantha and Elan and Cedric!" He turned away from the brooding wizard and shouted out, "SAMANTHA! ELAN! CEDDIE! OVER HERE!"

The trio turned around and ran toward Sam and Harry. Less than a second later, the duo was ambushed by Roger. Sadly for the attacker, Harry's self defense sensing had been finely tuned in the past year, leaving Roger sprawled on the cobbled road moaning in pain.

"Just how many times have I told you _not _to sneak up on me like that?" Harry asked, amusement laced in his voice.

"Ughh…I lost count Harry," Roger groaned from the street. Sighing Harry ducked as Elan flew over is head in an attempted flying bear hug. For a split second, Elan looked like a beautiful B-1 bomber in perfect flight…

…Before smashing into a very unlucky Roger. Harry rolled his eyes. "How many times have I told _you _not to do that, Elan?"

"Shut the fuck up, Potter!" Elan gasped out, the breath knocked clean out of him by the bone crushing landing.

"Boys." Samantha shook her head in mock-disgust. To Harry's embarrassment, he noted that she was becoming quite attractive, her dark hair becoming straighter then ever before, and her skin turning more golden from the sun.

He diverted his attention from his female friend and to Cedric, who had his arms around two other female fourth years from Gryffindor, chatting amiably and cracking flirtatious jokes.

_Man-whore_, Harry thought to himself. In the past year, Cedric had finally grown out of his reclusive nature and had made it his life's goal to date every single one of Hogwart's female population. His good looks only made the matters worse. Luckily, however, females like Samantha were able to fend the womanizer off with a good thwack of the knee.

Yet even with all these half-witted friends that he had, he couldn't help but smile happily. Life was good. He was looking forward to the school year, even with the idiot of his brother getting into his life too.

"Harry! You should really smile like that more often, but at girls, man! I'm sorry mate, I really don't swing that way!"

Harry glared at Sam, the latter of which started to smile nervously. "Ha! Ha! C'mon Harry, I was just joshing with ya'! I don't mean any harm!"

Panicked yelps and screeches of indignation were heard by the passerby near Gringotts bank for the next hour.

* * *

Harry sat back on the compartment cushioned bench, stretching his legs out and yawning as chaos surrounded him. Cedric was in the adjacent compartment, kissing another girl with a ferocious passion and squeezing her bum a couple of times. Sam, an excellent potioneer, was haphazardly trying to cook up a muscle growing potion. Samantha was practicing her conjuration, not to mention that Elan and Roger were practicing Shield Charms.

Harry ducked under a stray Stunner that had been reflected of off Roger's shield, glared at the caster, and flicked his wand at the unlucky Malfoy.

Suddenly, Elan a strange urge to give everyone in the compartment a "free show," and began dancing wildly with his clothes half off. The three males in the compartment roared with laughter, the only female glaring at the three and incanting, "_Finite Incantiem!_"

A furious blond boy stormed towards the yawning black-haired one ready to cast the most harmful spell he knew, only to find that he had misplaced a certain wand of his.

"Where the hell did my wand go?"

Harry cocked an eyebrow in mock confusion, absent-mindedly twirling a quill. "You got your _wand_ cut off? You a tranny?"

Elan gave a death glare towards the elemental. "My wand! Fifteen inches-"

"Oh my gawd! You have a gorilla sized dick man! Who would ever want to bed with you?"

Samantha visibly recoiled in disgust. "Have you been practicing the Enlargement spell on your…thing?"

Elan yelled out loud in frustration.

Finally, Harry took pity on the Malfoy and tossed the "quill" that he had been using back at Elan. With a flick of the Elder Wand, the powerful Glamour that Harry had put up was undone.

"Oh! Elan! There's your wand! You must've dropped it!"

The Malfoy just shook his head and cast a Tickling Charm at and unsuspecting Roger.

"Why-HA HA-me-HA-why not-HA HA HA-Harry?" Roger gasped out between breaths.

Elan smirked. "Because if I pick on Harry, then he'll kill me. Not to mention that we're practice Shield Charms, no?"

Suddenly, the compartment door opened, and one Adam Potter stepped into the small cramped room. "Ah. It's my brother with his loser slimy snake friends."

Behind him, Ronald Weasley, a bushy-haired girl that Harry didn't know, and a few other suck-up lackeys peered inside. Not to mention the horde of fan girls that followed him everywhere he went.

"I'm out of money. I need some. Give all of yours right now."

Harry stared coolly back. The compartment fell silent, Roger managing to cast a Finite on himself a few seconds before. "No, you son of a bitch. Why would I ever give money to a little fag like you?"

Adam snarled. "I'll pound your ass to the curb!"

"But, if your extraordinarily tiny head can realize this, there isn't a curb around for at least a hundred and fifty kilometers," Harry drawled.

His brother raised his wand, barely able to control his anger. "_BOMBARDA!_"

Harry calmly raised his hand, and the light brown spell hovered in mid-air, forming itself into a ball of light. With a flick of his hand, the spell flew back at Adam with three times the power. Adam flew back out of the compartment and smashed straight through the adjacent compartment.

Another wave of his hand, and the door snapped shut. A split second later four locking spells, one from every person, hit the door.

Silence reigned for a moment. No one spoke. Suddenly, however…

"_Rictumsempra!_"

Roger was hit again by the Tickling spell, rolling on the floor like a madman, Sam turned back to his potion, Samantha continued conjuration, and Harry just pulled out a book. The chaos continued.

* * *

Harry sat back on the hard wooden benches, unconsciously spinning a single golden fork in the air wandlessly. Next to him, Roger was opening a bet table for takers on where the Boy-Who-Lived would go to.

So far, no one had gone against Gryffindor.

A few recognizable names had gone by, like Daphne Greengrass, who went to Slytherin, to Sam's disappointment.

But then finally, Adam Potter's name was called out, and the Hall broke into excited whispering.

Harry tightened his fists. He couldn't help but remember his own sorting three years before. Briefly, a memory broke through his shields and he was reliving the time once more…

FLASHBACK

_Finally it was his turn. "Potter, Harry."_

_Almost immediately, the Hall exploded in whispers. "The brother of the Boy-Who-Lived? I didn't even know he had a brother! Can he get me an autograph? Man, I need to be friends with that kid so when he invites me over I can meet him!" caused Harry to clench his teeth and tighten his fingers in his palm._

_He stalked up the center, loathing the eyes upon him, seeing him as a link to his "all-great" brother. He sat down on the stool stiffly and regally, eyes as emotionless and hard as glass. There were no friends here. Only people that saw him as a link to his brother. To use him as a stepping stone. He, again, would be cast aside, just like his parents did. The Sorting Hat slowly engulfed his vision to a comfortable darkness..._

__END FLASHBACK

Harry broke out of the flashback and back into the present. He saw the Hat disappear over his brother's head. Hatred briefly flashed through him before Harry crushed the feeling ruthlessly with his Occulemency shields.

But, the Sorting took a lot longer than expected. After a solid minute of wait, Harry became curious. He reached out with his magic, finding the two presences that were connected.

The elder Potter enveloped himself with a blanket of secrecy, hiding his presence in the Hat's mind. He could dimly hear a conversation, but that would have to do for now…

"_You are a Slytherin, Mr. Potter. You are very ambitious, and you want to see your brother fail. Not really a pleasant goal in life, really."_

"_I WANT TO BE A GRYFFINDOR!"_

"_You are a Slytherin. An dif you go to Gryffindor, your future will be much worse off than it will be it you went to Slytherin. In fact, it will probably lead you to a much more painful and untimely death. Not to mention you will be tortured first."_

"_FUCK YOU. I AIN'T GONNA LISTEN TO SOME DUMBASS HAT THAT SAYS I'LL DIE EARLY! I'LL MAKE SURE MY BROTHER WILL BE IN MY PLACE! HE'S WORTHLESS JUNK!"_

"_Please don't be so loud. He could probably hear you if he is fairly skilled in Legilimency."_

"_SO WHAT? I'LL BEAT THAT PIECE OF SHIT IF HE TRIES! I'VE BEEN TRAINING SINCE DAY ONE!"_

"_Your brother can whop your ass. As I was saying, if you go to Gryffindor, it will lead to your torturously slow, painful, hell-like, gruesome and untimely death."_

"_FUCK YOU!"_

"_Ok. Fine. Don't heed my warning. See ya in hell Mr. Potter. Better be…"_

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry pulled out of the Hat's presence. What did the Hat mean? What exactly would happen to Adam?

The thought of Adam's hatred and revulsion towards him for no particular reason unnerved him for the rest of the night. At what lengths would his brother go to destroy him? The chilling thought disrupted his sleep for many hours.

**AN: VOTE FOR THE PAIRING AT MY PROFILE OR I WILL SIC DOBBY ON YOU! **

**Harry is not afraid of Adam. It's just that Adam has the Potter weight, name, and money. Also, Harry doesn't really need to kill Adam, nor does he have much motivation to. Adam, as seen by the above conversation, probably does have quite a bit of motivation. You may have noticed I have upgraded this story's rating. It's for language, at least for now.**

**REVIEW!**


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